Reading Fire Triangle
by Myra109
Summary: The gods and demigods have finished reading Change Through Flame. How will they react to Fire Triangle? Sequel to Reading Change Through Flame, Fire Triangle by NBrokenShacklesN (who did give me permission to write these stories)
1. First Week, Claiming, and Nightmares

_This is the sequel to Reading Change Through Flame._

 _I will warn you: this will not be updated as fast. My goal is to update once a day or once a week (depending on how long the chapters are at that point in the story). This is because the chapters are much longer in Fire Triangle. I will also never post on a Sunday for religious reasons; that goes for all my stories._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything in bold belongs to NBrokenShacklesN._**

 ** _WARNINGS: A VERY, VERY, VERY BAD NIGHTMARE AT THE END. ITALICIZED IF YOU WANT TO SKIP IT. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU_**

* * *

Apollo took the book and dove right into the reading, eager to discover what would happen to his new favorite demigod (aside of his children, of course).

"Fire Triangle," he read. "Chapter one: In Which Leo's Screams Wake The Entire Cabin."

Leo groaned. "Not this."

Beckendorf placed an arm around him. He knew what the book was referring to, and while he didn't want Leo to have to relive it, he was also curious as to what Leo had been dreaming about.

 **'Leo was undeniably nervous. He was standing just beyond Thalia's tree on half blood hill, hesitant to enter camp. It would be completely different to his time, he knew. Still, the thing that made him the most hesitant was meeting his half brother Beckendorf. He had been routinely told about him, and how cool he was, but he still couldn't help being nervous. People always said good stuff about a dead person, so what if Beckendorf wasn't like that at all.'**

"I don't usually love being wrong," Leo announced, "but I was when I met you."

Beckendorf laughed and messed up Leo's hair, resulting his little brother huffing and glaring, playfully.

 **'Leo glanced at Thalia's tree. It looked weird without the Golden Fleece hanging of a branch. It was even weirder to think that the scary lieutenant of Artemis, Jason's older sister was still imprisoned within it. Leo screwed up his courage, and walked over the boundary line, and down the hill.**

 **He reached the bottom of the hill and stopped, unsure of where he should go. Big house? Or just wander around till someone noticed he didn't have a camp T-shirt on, or looked lost. He looked over to the cabins, and the lake. Everyone looked so happy! Leo figured that this was what camp looked like without the looming threat of a war. He couldn't help but grin, it was so loud, so hectic! It had never looked like this while he had been here in the future.'**

Several of the campers were saddened by that statement. What had happened to their camp, their home?

 **'Leo felt a tear roll down the side of his face, and quickly scrubbed it away. It had been far too long since he had seen camp, since the Romans, tricked by Gaia and lead by Octavian, had stormed the place, and everything had been destroyed. The campers who escaped the slaughter, Clarisse, the Stolls, Nyssa, Michael, and a few others, had ransacked the camp funds and bought plane tickets to Greece.**

 **"Hey! Travis!" Leo turned to see a girl of about fourteen running toward him, a bucket of crushed strawberries in her arms. She ran up to him, and then flushed pink. "Sorry, I thought you were one of the Stolls, it was the hair, I think... Ummm yeah."**

 **Leo smiled, plastering a confused look on his face. Time to pretend he didn't know anyone. "No problemo, but ah, who are the Stolls?"**

 **"Who..." The girl looked at him closely, "I've not seen you before..."**

 **"Yeah, I'm new." Leo swept into a deep bow, grinning up at the girl, who he suspected was a daughter of Demeter. "Leo Valdez, at your service."**

 **She looked slightly amused at the bow, "new? I haven't seen you around before; I must have missed the announcement of a new camper. Sorry."**

 **"No, I mean, I just walked over the hill new." Leo grinned at the look on her face.'**

Travis and Connor burst out laughing.

"I can so imagine that!" Connor chuckled.

"Hilarious!" Travis agreed.

' **"But you don't have a protector..."**

 **Leo made his confused face come back, "protector? I don't need one, I look after myself. I was just passing through New York, trying to not get eaten by any of the random weird monster things, and then there was this really bright light, and a voice told me to come here. I gotta admit though, it looks pretty awesome here, I wonder if I'll be allowed to stay."'**

LT Percy frowned. "Does that happen often?"

Dozens of hands went up, and Will Solace, who was raising his hand, nodded.

"Happens a lot more than you think," he said, "but usually, a protector finds you when you're heading towards camp unless you happen to live in New York."

LT Percy nodded, still amazed by the sheer amount of hands.

 **'The daughter of Demeter looked more shocked as his speech went on. "You mean you don't know?"**

 **"Don't know what? And if the explanation can tell me why all the monsters in America have decided that roasted Valdez is their favourite food, then I would be delighted to hear it!"**

 **The girl grabbed a hold of his arm, noticing the scars from the furies and the hellhound on the arch, "Holy Hades, what? You know what, never mind, you need to get to Chiron."**

 **"Chiron? Hey, what's your name anyway?"**

 **The girl blushed, "Sorry Leo, I'm Katie, Katie Gardener."**

 **Leo fell silent at that. He had never met Katie Gardener, so as far as he knew she had either died in the Titan war, or joined the Titans.'**

Several people gasped, and Travis wrapped an arm around Katie's shoulders, awkwardly. For once, she didn't push him away.

"She died," Connor murmured, and they all turned to him. "Katie wouldn't join the Titans. I know she wouldn't."

Katie nodded, but she was too shocked to speak. After all, hearing you could possibly die or betray your friends would throw anyone for a loop.

 **'Leo thought he remembered seeing her name in miniature on Percy's bead necklace, the fifth bead, those who died in the Titan war. It felt more real now. Realistically, Leo knew he wouldn't be able to save everyone, but he would try to save as many as he could, and Katie's life was, metaphorically, in his hands.'**

But no pressure, Leo thought, sarcastically, staring at Katie, surrounded by her friends and Travis (who would become her future boyfriend, according to a story he heard from future Percy).

Beckendorf patted his little brother on the shoulder to show that he was here for him.

 **'By the time Leo had broken out of his somewhat depressing train of thought, they had reached the big house. Katie told him to wait out on the porch, so he stood awkwardly outside, as Katie went in to get Chiron.**

 **Before too long, Chiron had come trotting out of the house, a relived smile on his face. "Leo, I am glad you are alright." Leo's anger and disappointment all came streaming back. The 'why didn't he believe me'; the 'I thought Chiron trusted me', and he couldn't help his mutter of "No thanks to you."'**

Both Chirons stared at Leo in guilt.

"Leo, I am so sorry," Chiron stressed.

Leo smiled. "I know that, Chiron. It's okay. If I didn't forgive people every time they betrayed me, I wouldn't have any friends. It comes with the territory."

"Of being a demigod or of being Leo Valdez?" Percy asked.

Leo shrugged. "Both."

Several people exchanged glances, wondering what this kid had gone through in his life if he thought that every person would betray him at one point or another.

That just wasn't right.

 **'He felt guilty as soon as he had said it, Leo has seemed incredibly suspicious at Yancy, and he couldn't really blame Chiron for that. But a small part of him, the suspicious and not so pleasant part (a result of the war with Gaia) felt that Chiron deserved the guilt that now showed on his face.'**

"War changes people," Ares stated, and he almost looked... not sad exactly, but pretty close to it. "Just because I like war doesn't mean I like the aftermath."

Everyone stared at the god of war in shock.

"What are you all staring at?" He grunted before returning to sharpening his knives.

That's about as human as Ares ever appeared.

They continued.

 **'Katie was looking between the two of them, a bewildered look on her face. "You two know each other?" She pouted slightly when she didn't get an answer from Chiron, and turned to Leo.**

 **"Sure, if you call being accused of something you didn't do, and tattled on to Olympus by someone 'knowing each other'."**

 **Chiron cringed, and Katie looked shocked, "Chiron, you actually..."**

 **"Perhaps, Miss Gardener, you could leave Mr Valdez and myself to chat, and see if cabin 11 can find room for Leo."**

 **Katie looked between the two once more, then nodded, and made her way down the hill to the cabins. The shocked look was still present on her face as she went. Halfway down, she was joined by too identical looking boys, with red strawberry juice on their hands. Leo couldn't help snorting when he saw Katie take some of the ruined strawberries in both her hands, and smear one hand into each of their faces.**

 **After Katie had reached the cabins, two Stolls trailing behind her, Leo turned back to Chiron, his anger sufficiently cooled. "I'm sorry Chiron, that was uncalled for, I was acting kinda suspiciously I guess. I don't blame you for jumping to the conclusion you did."**

 **"Thank you Leo, but I should have learnt by now that not everything is as it seems. I apologise. The Olympians would likely punish you immediately had you been caught. I was rather apprehensive when the bolt had been returned, and your innocent proven, yet you still didn't arrive at camp. I am glad you arrived safely."**

 **Leo grinned "Me too, I didn't want to come to camp till I was sure I wouldn't be killed as soon as I crossed the border. Percy was protected from Olympus because of his dad, but my dad's not quite as powerful, or willing to stand up to the lord of the skies. Plus, I'm pretty sure he has other kids, if I died, though I hope he would be upset, he wouldn't care as much as Poseidon would if Percy died. He's got other kids, better kids, so I don't matter much."'**

Hephaestus sputtered. "Leo, you know that isn't true."

"Yeah. He cried for three weeks and then tracked down the man and made him wish he'd never been born after your fifth foster home," Apollo pointed out.

Leo blinked. "You know about Him?"

Hephaestus nodded. "I was always keeping an eye on you."

"As was I," Hestia added.

Leo blinked once again. "Thank you."

Hephaestus smiled. "Just because I'm a god doesn't mean I'm still not your father."

The demigods exchanged glances. Gods actually showing that they care... That's a first.

"Wait," Beckendorf suddenly said. "What happened at your fifth foster home?"

Leo paled. "Oh, look at the time, we should probably get reading."

Apollo did so without question, leaving the demigods to wonder what on earth had happened at that foster home.

 **'Hey, Leo knew that he was powerful, and with years to go before the Titan war came to a head, he would get more powerful, but his self worth hadn't grown at all. In fact, since he came back in time, it seemed to have shrunk again. He conveniently forgot all he had achieved in the war, it hadn't actually happened to anyone but him, how could he replicate it? How would he, Leo Valdez, repair boy, manage to save as many people as Chaos wanted him to?'**

"Where is your self esteem?" Travis asked.

"Probably left it in a ditch somewhere years ago," Leo said, casually.

Beckendorf and Nyssa exchanged glances.

That was a problem that needed to be handled.

 **Chiron was looking at him sadly, "You believe your father does not care for you?"**

 **"Oh, I hope he does, but I'm not too optimistic. I'm short, weak, compared to all the other Hephaestus kids, I'm a runt. I'm not worth dad's time."'**

Hephaestus sighed.

 **'Chiron sighed, "I don't believe that I can persuade you any differently Mr. Valdez. As it is almost time to eat, let me escort you to the dinning pavilion, I'm afraid you will have to sit with the Hermes cabin till Lord Hephaestus claims you. But I'm sure he will do so soon."**

 **"I'm not" Leo muttered, but he figured that Chiron had heard him, from the sigh that the centaur gave. On their way to the pavilion, Leo thought about how long it would take before he was claimed. He realised that he had been claimed almost as soon as he arrived before, but that was after Percy made the gods promise to claim their kids by thirteen. By then he was sixteen. Now there was no promise and he wasn't even thirteen anyway. There was no way Hephaestus would be claiming him any time soon. Best get used to the Hermes cabin'**

"You'd be surprised," Nyssa said. "I was claimed within two weeks."

"I was claimed in three days!" Shane piped up.

"I was claimed in five hours," Beckendorf told him.

"Your father never waits long to claim his children," Hestia said. "The longest was two months, and that's only because he got distracted by some... things."

"Three of them," Hephaestus clarified. "One was Shane getting attacked by a Cyclops; one was the birth of one of my children; and the last was your mother's... death."

Maybe he does care about his children... Leo thought. Most gods don't.

' **Leo didn't want to be claimed immediately anyway, it would make the people who had been in the Hermes cabin for ages feel resentful**.'

The gods shifted, uneasily, in their chairs.

"I know you're being claimed the wrong way," Hermes called, "us having to be reminded, but I'm sure you'll be relieved."

The demigods were confused before most of the gods snapped their fingers and symbols appeared above the heads of the demigods.

Fourteen kids were claimed.

 **'He already had the enmity of Echidna; he didn't need half-blood enemies too.**

 **Leo had been in the Hermes cabin a week. Sure it was crowded, but it was also kinda nice, in a weird way. Sure he had to sleep on the floor, but he had slept in much worse places that the floor of the Hermes cabin. He had made fast friends with Travis and Conner, who were two years older than him, but still didn't mind involving him in their pranks (while he had some good ideas himself). Travis was more excitable in this time period that the previous one. Leo suspected it was because of a certain gardener, but he wasn't saying anything. One night of sleeping in a shaving foam filled sleeping bag was enough.'**

Travis nodded. "Classic!"

 **He had gotten Travis back for that one though, by rigging a bucket of ice to fall on him in the middle of the night. Classics were often best, in Leo's opinion.**

 **He had talked to Percy at the campfire on the first night. He was glad that Percy didn't blame him for anything, and when he couldn't be found with the Stolls, he would often be with Percy (and Annabeth by extension). He hadn't talked to his siblings much, as they were mostly always in the camp forge, and you weren't allowed in there, unless you were a claimed child of Hephaestus. Well Leo might be slightly mad about that, but hey.'**

"Maybe we should change that rule," Chiron mused. "It seems unfair for the unclaimed kids to be left out in the cold."

"I vote yes!" A child of Hephaestus that had been claimed not even two minutes ago called.

 **'The Stolls and Annabeth had figured who his dad was, and then Annabeth told Percy. At first the Stolls had figured that Leo might be their brother, until he made a really complex prank on Luke, totally not as revenge for anything he might do, that only a son of Hephaestus could pull off. Luke has been so impressed that he forgot to prank back.**

 **Now it was time for campfire, again. Leo had heard the Stolls planning a prank, but they stopped when he went over. Which either meant that he was the target or one of his friends was. He hoped the prank had nothing to do with the campfire, Percy, Annabeth, Grover and himself were the only ones who knew of his fire power, and he would like to keep it that way.**

 **Leo sat next to Percy at the camp fire, grinning as he sat down, and wiping away thoughts of the immanent prank. "How's my best buddy doing this fine evening?" Sure he wasn't technically allowed to be sitting next to Percy, having to sit in cabins and all, but no-one really cared where the unclaimed demi-gods sat, and he didn't want Percy to have to sit alone. Leo knew from experience that alone sucked.'**

Several demigods nodded in agreement.

 **Percy grinned back, "I heard you pulled a prank on Luke, he told me about it during sword practice."**

 **"It's not my fault if he forgot to check his bed for an ejector when he got in it. I don't think Chiron's very happy about the hole in the roof though. Even if I fixed it in under an hour." Leo looked back to the campfire as Chiron stamped his foot, taking time to whisper out of the corner of his mouth, "bet you're glad that I'm not in your cabin."**

 **Percy snorted, "I feel sorry for Beckendorf when you're claimed."**

 **Leo grinned again, but didn't say anything. He still hadn't spoken to Beckendorf, and the longer he left it, the more nervous he was. It was hard to talk sincerely to people he hadn't known before, but it was even harder to talk to people he knew were dead in his time. It felt like someone was standing behind them, whispering that this person would die in four years or less. That he could stop it, and if he didn't, their blood would be on his hands.'**

People shifted in their chairs at the depressing thought.

 **'Chiron's voice echoed from the front. "Now that we are all here, I would like to ask the Apollo cabin if they would kindly lead a few campfire songs, before we get onto smores."**

 **The Apollo cabin stood up, just as the bench underneath Percy and Leo collapsed. Leo heard the Stolls snort. So this had been the prank. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Stolls hadn't reckoned on the small amount of explosives also blowing up the bench behind Percy.**

 **Leo could see what was going to happen. The angle that the bench was lifting, it would crash down on the Aphrodite cabin behind it. They were screaming, and trying to move away. Leo saw that if he re-angled the bench slightly left, it would land on the unoccupied bench over from the Aphrodite one. He cringed, this was going to hurt.**

 **Leo jumped forward, and shoved all his weight onto the side of the bench, swinging it round so that it just missed Drew, sitting on the edge, and landed with a crash on the other bench, at the same time that Leo landed on the floor, clutching his shoulder. He just had time to see the Stolls horrified faces, and Percy's worried one, before the world went black.'**

"Thank you," Aphrodite said, "for helping my children."

Leo laughed. "No problem. One of my best friends is a child of Aphrodite. I'd be an awful best friend if I didn't help her siblings when they were in danger."

Aphrodite smiled at him.

 **When Leo opened his eyes, he was alone in the infirmary, it was dark, and his shoulder was bandaged. He felt like he had just been slammed by Frank in elephant form. Being at camp seemed to bring back memories of his friends. Like the sound Piper made when Jason was killed...'**

Aphrodite and Zeus flinched.

 **'Bad thoughts Leo, bad thoughts.**

 **Leo tried to sit upright, and gave a little gasp at the pain, Holy Hades,-'**

"Hey!"

"Sorry!"

' **that hurt. He spotted a glass of nectar by the bedside table, and reached out with his good arm to grab it. Absentmindedly, he noticed that the shoulder he had slammed the bench with, was the same arm that had the hellhound and fury scars.**

 **Leo drank the ambrosia, and felt the pain in his shoulder disappear; he gave a relived sigh as he sank back onto the bed. He was so going to yell at the Stolls for this tomorrow, though he suspected Katie might have already done so. He hoped that Chiron put them on stable cleaning duties for a month.'**

"Two months," Travis corrected, "not that we didn't deserve it."

 **The next time he awoke, the Stolls were sitting next to each other on the bed over from him, and Percy was sitting in the chair next to him. He sat up, frowning at the Stolls. "If my shoulder is permanently damaged, I am so blaming you two."**

 **The Stolls had the grace to look ashamed at least, though Leo had a feeling that they didn't quite mean it.'**

"We so did!" Connor snapped.

"They really did," Katie agreed. "They barely talked during your time in the Infirmary, and they didn't pull any pranks for weeks."

Leo pursed his lips. "Sorry about that, guys. In the future, I didn't know you as well as I wanted to. Or at least I didn't know you before," Leo added with a glance at future Connor.

Travis grinned. "Don't sweat it, Leo."

' **They had looked really guilty when he first looked at them though. They'd probably been through Chiron's lecture of 'it could have been worse, you could have seriously hurt someone.' Leo knew that lecture well. He was a prankster himself, after all.**

 **Percy had frowned at the Stolls as well, and then turned back to Leo. "Are you sure you're alright Leo?"**

 **"Percy, I'm Leo freaking Valdez, I'm not about to be seriously injured by a bench. Where are the heroics in that?"'**

"Well, there was that one time..." Will said.

Leo frowned. "What?"

"Andrew Burks. He died on a quest a few years ago, but before that, he pushed his little brother off of a bench that some of his enemies had rigged to blow up. They were both all right; the brother got a burn, and Andrew got a broken arm and singed eyebrows, but other than that, they were good."

 **'Percy grinned, "Well, you did save half the Aphrodite cabin; I'm betting they think you're a right hero. They'll be colour coordinating all your clothes for you."**

 **Leo gave a mock gasp, "not colour coordination! Aphrodite, have mercy!"'**

Aphrodite looked insulted.

"Color coordination is what holds the universe together!" She yelled.

"No, it isn't," Artemis snapped. "Independent women that care more about their looks, on the other hand..."

 **'Percy gave a snort at that, and Leo heard the Stolls snickering as well. He was glad that the knock on his shoulder hadn't upset his humour any. Leo heard Travis clear his throat, and address him. "Leo, um, not that it's any of our business..." Conner took over.**

" **But we were kinda wondering..."**

 **"How you got those scars on your arm."**

 **Leo sighed. He knew that question was coming up, he was thinking of a way to answer it, when Chiron came rolling into the room, in his wheelchair. "I too would be interested in the answer to Mr Stolls' question."**

 **Leo groaned, of course he would. "Well, these ones," Leo pointed to the three slashes that stood out plainly, pink with scar tissue, even against his tanned arm. He had to admit they looked pretty bad, running from his elbow to his wrists, and leaving gouges in his muscle. They didn't hurt nearly as much as some of the injuries he had sustained during the war, though they did look worse that he thought.'**

Hephaestus stared at his son in horror.

' **"They were from a fury that attacked me the day I ran away from the school trip. Apparently the poison on the furies claws was meant to kill me, but I don't kill easily, so it just made the scars deep and unable to ever go away."**

 **Leo looked up to see the cringe that Conner gave, "don't they really hurt?"**

 **"Nah, they don't really hurt at all, they look worse than they are." Leo traced the thicker scar that cut diagonally across the other three. "This scar was from a hellhound, not as friendly as they look..'**

"Friendly?" A Hecate kid asked.

"I cannot wait until you meet Mrs. O'Leary," Leo laughed. "Few more years."

Several demigods looked confused at that but didn't push it.

 **'Not that they look friendly, but, yeah. I didn't really feel that one at the time, and it wasn't until a bit later that I realised that the blood had soaked through my hoodie."**

 **The Stolls looked appropriately horrified at that, and as they left, Leo wondered how long it would be before they spread the rumour that his arm was horrifically mangled, a memoir of him bravery, or stupidity (if you were asking Annabeth).'**

"You know it," Annabeth said.

 **'Leo looked to see how Chiron was taking it, and was surprised to see guilt on his face; he gave Chiron an inquiring look, matching the one Percy was already sending him.**

 **Chiron looked at Leo intently, "When I chased you away, you were injured?"**

 **"Yep."**

 **"And slashed with a furies poisoned claws no less. I'm sorry Leo, I'm a healer, I should've helped you, not chased you off as I did."**

 **"Hey no problem, plus you didn't exactly chase me, I ran. An instinct left over from all the different foster homes I've run from."'**

"How many have you run from?" Malcom questioned.

"Been to eleven, ran away from six," Leo responded.

"What about the other five?" Nyssa asked.

"I got taken out of them for one reason or another," Leo replied.

Beckendorf looked a little worried about that, but Apollo picked up the reading before he could ask.

 **'Leo ignored Percy's inquiring look, and focused on Chiron. "I am curious though, as to how you survived the poison. That is a feat that I have never heard of before, and though I admire your determination to not be killed, I doubt that was what saved you."**

 **Leo sighed, to tell or not to tell, well, Chiron hadn't judged him in the future for it, so he figured that he wouldn't judge him now. Plus, he needed to tell someone. "That poison was meant to burn someone up from the inside out," Leo noticed Percy's wince, "but, since I have a particular ability that some children of Hephaestus get, it didn't work on me."**

 **Leo almost thought he could see the cogs in Chiron's brain working, "you mean..."**

 **"I'm willing to bet that it also wouldn't have worked on a certain Tomas Farriner."**

 **"I see, does anyone else know of your gift?"**

 **Leo almost snorted, right yeah, defiantly a gift, cus gifts always get people killed. "Percy knows about my curse sir, as does Grover, and I'm fairly sure that Annabeth does too. Other than them, and now you, no. Mom did, but she's not around anymore."'**

Hephaestus (and several others) frowned at the word curse.

 **'Leo ignored Chiron's sigh at his use of the word curse, but he let it drop. "Very well Leo, but you might want to mention it to Charles, after your father claims you."**

 **"Charles?"**

 **"Beckendorf."**

 **"Ohhh, his first name is Charles?"**

 **Leo was still puzzling over his half brothers first name'**

"What's wrong with it?" Beckendorf asked.

"I've only ever heard of you as Beckendorf," Leo explained. "Hearing you referred to as your first name was a little weird."

' **as he and Percy left the infirmary, and made their way onto the porch. He was snapped out of his thoughts pretty quickly by the loud noise of applause he heard when they got outside. He looked down to see at least half the campers gathered outside and clapping for him. Ignoring the strange feeling spiralling inside of him, he gave a massive grin, and bowed to the gathered demi-gods, gaining a bout of laughter for his troubles.'**

"You made a lot of friends," Percy said. "Especially in your first week."

Leo shrugged. "I'm a likable guy."

 **'Leo looked up to see the Stolls in the first row, and somehow wasn't at all surprised. It seemed that pretty much all of the Aphrodite cabin was there as well, as well as Beckendorf standing by Silena. He could tell the two were friends, even if they weren't together yet.'**

"What?" The two demigods asked.

"You'll see," Leo told them, nodding slowly.

 **'Leo grinned manically, and then heard gasps from the audience. He had a feeling he knew what that was all about, he glanced up, and sure enough, there was a fiery hammer floating above his head. Just as Chiron walked out, in his centaur form. "Hail Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus, lord of Blacksmiths, forging, and Fire."**

 **After the flaming hammer had faded away, Leo found himself walking with Beckendorf down to the camp forge, to meet his other siblings. He had to admit, though there was only about four of them, compared to the loads there had been last time he joined the cabin, he was still apprehensive.**

 **Leo had been a bit nervous when Beckendorf came over to him on the porch, but the smile that he offered Leo and the "Hello little brother," made his fears dissipate, Beckendorf was a great guy, and Leo was kinda looking forward to having him as an older brother.'**

"Well, I was looking forward to having you as a little brother," Beckendorf grinned.

"You'd be the first in a long time. My last foster brother tied me to a chair because I wouldn't sit still, and nobody knew until I was marked absent at school," Leo said.

"What a jerk," Grover stated.

"Tell me about it," Leo sighed.

 **'Leo and Beckendorf reached the forge, and Beckendorf went inside. Leo hung back, suddenly the forge that he had wanted to be in all week looked less inviting. In fact Leo was all set to take a stroll through the forest and find Festus.'**

"Festus?" Beckendorf asked.

"You'll find out who he is," Leo replied.

' **And maybe bunker 9 while he was at it. Beckendorf re-emerged, and gave him an encouraging smile, beckoning him to follow.**

 **Leo took a deep breath and walked by Beckendorf, and into the forge. There were four in the forge, and with Beckendorf as well, that meant Leo had five new siblings, though he knew Jake, Nyssa and Shane, there was still Beckendorf and this other guy. They were all much stronger than he was, even Shane, who was four years younger.**

 **"Guys, this is Leo, our new half-brother."**

 **Leo lifted a hand and waved it, looking kind of stupid, why was it now that his witty banter failed him? He could stand in front of a wakened Gaia, and still manage to throw some funny jibes. But in front of his siblings he just closed up. Why did his nerves act up now? They didn't last time he had met his family. Leo thought that the insecurities he had when he was twelve were coming back, maybe being twelve again was affecting him mentally as well as physically.'**

Athena nodded. "A plausible theory. You've seen more than any adults have, but physically, you're twelve and your brain chemistry would be that of your twelve year old self."

 **'Leo paid attention again when his siblings began to introduce themselves."**

 **Jake stepped forward, and lifted his hand, "Jake Mason"**

 **"Nyssa Steel"**

 **"Shane Forjar" Leo tried not to smile at that, forjar was Spanish for forge, subtle much dad, he thought.'**

Hephaestus chuckled. "I'm not the only one that does that. Hermes's children, Travis and Connor _Stoll_ , and Apollo's boy, Will _Solace_ , to name a few."

' **"Chris West, I fortunately don't have a surname that immediately gives away my heritage."**

 **Leo snickered, "I don't either, my surname's Valdez, nothing special." He was glad that Chris had a sense of humour; he got along better with people who could take a joke. "So tell me, are the bulging muscles required to be a Hephaestus kid? I'm sure I can find some inflatable ones somewhere."**

 **The others snickered, and Beckendorf joined them, "don't worry, we'll have you lugging celestial bronze about in no time."**

 **Leo smiled, "I'm glad to have family with a sense of humour!"**

 **Jake looked at him inquiringly, "Your mom doesn't?"**

 **"Oh mom did," Leo noticed how all five froze at the 'did', he was grateful for it, but he was getting used to no-one caring.'**

Percy gave Leo a side hug.

"Dude, I know that was a depressing thought, but if you keep hugging me, I'm going to have to punch you."

Percy quickly put his arm down.

"Thanks!" Leo said, enthusiastically.

 **'Seeing people who did was refreshing. "I'm talking about my aunt."**

 **"Oh, you live with her?" Jake said, ignoring Chris's frantic cut it out action.**

 **"Nah, she didn't want me. So, is there anything I can help with? It has been way too long since I've been in a workshop of any sort."'**

"Why?" Travis asked.

Leo smiled, sadly, but he didn't reply.

 **'Nyssa stood forward. "You can help me with the shield I'm making; I need two sets of hands for this next phase."**

 **"Ok."**

 **By the time the conch shell had sounded for dinner, Leo had helped Nyssa finish the moulding of her shield, and started a miniature of Festus, that actually blew fire. His siblings were impressed with his talent and attention to detail. The fact that it actually blew fire made Beckendorf grin, and he could've sworn he heard Chris giggle.'**

"I do not giggle!" Chris squawked.

"You did, " Nyssa corrected, and his other siblings nodded.

Chris huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

' **After campfire, the six of them had gone back to the Hephaestus cabin, where Leo had dropped his stuff off earlier. He was sleeping in the bed that had been Harley's in his time. As Harley wasn't at camp yet though, Leo had it. It didn't take very long for him to drop off to sleep, but then the nightmares that had been threatening finally appeared...'**

"Oh, no," Let muttered before leaning over and clamping his hands over the ears of a very puzzled Shane.

 _ **'Jason was flying over the Argo two, dropping Greek fire over Gaia's army, when a cannon ball from a machine piloted by two Cyclops hit him in the side, he lost control, and plummeted, the sound when he hit the ground played over and over, the splat of the son of Jupiter falling was heard over 200 metres away on the Argo two, accompanied by the mournful wail that Piper gave when her heart split in two.'**_

Zeus and Aphrodite both squeaked, and everyone stared at them.

Annabeth's eyes widened in realization (or half realization since we all know she doesn't know the full truth about Jason yet).

 _ **'Hazel and Frank had been missing for twelve hours when the other four arrived in Greece, only to find their decapitated corpses, riddled with whip marks, and torture scars, drained of blood, and their heads stuck on spears, with grotesque smiles fixed on them.'**_

Some demigods left the room to vomit, and even some gods turned green.

 _ **'The full brunt of Gaia's army was upon them, every demi-god fighting for their lives, Clarisse and Piper back to back, Kapatrios and Maimer twirling so fast they looked like a blur. Until the anti-Ares giant swung his club, and shattered both weapons, leaving Clarisse and Piper to be stuck like pin cushions, Piper's last scream echoing through the field, and turning all the monsters to dust.'**_

Aphrodite sobbed, and Ares's knives clattered to the floor. Clarrise flinched.

 _ **'Percy and Annabeth died together, Probably the only merciful thing Gaia did, but she had learnt from Piper that killing couples separately made them stronger, and while they had both drowned in mud at Gaia's feet, they did it together, as they had done everything together. Even Gaia could not separate them after death.'**_

Annabeth's hand latched onto Percy's, and he didn't pull away. Athena and Poseidon were too shocked to even notice. Poseidon actually sobbed.

 _ **'Then it was no longer memories, Leo's mother joined the corpses that Leo saw lining up in front of him, her flesh burnt and horribly blackened, some hanging of her flame marked bones brown with heat, showing in place where the fire had burnt the flesh right off, and some was hanging down, half cooked meat.**_

Hephaestus ran from the room, and they heard the sound of retching.

Leo looked like he wanted to cover his ears, but he was already protecting Shane for the horrible description.

Beckendorf cupped his hands over Leo's ears, and Leo gave him a grateful glance.

' _ **"Mom, no!"**_

 _ **The corpses opened blank eyes, Hazel and Frank's heads swivelling round the pole to glare at him, the mouths opened, or what was left of them, "Your fault, all your fault,"**_

 _ **"No, please, No, I didn't, I..."**_

 _ **"Your fault Leo" Leo turned to where the mess that used to be Jason was, "you killed me, you could have stopped the cannon, had you been paying attention. It's your fault I'm dead."**_

 _ **And the chorus began again, "your fault, all you fault Leo,"**_

 _ **"Stop, please..."**_

 _ **"Your fault Leo, your fault Leo, your fault Leo."**_

 _ **"No, please, I, I'm, I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry."**_

 _ **"Sorry won't bring us back, won't save us!"**_

 _ **And Leo felt the tears rush down his face, his voice broke as he curled in on himself, amid the chorus that they all had taken up, as broken words rushed from his lips, as he shook, "I'm I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, please, please, I'm sorry."**_

 _ **"Your fault Leo"**_

 _ **"Your fault Leo"**_

 _ **"Your Fault!"**_

 _ **"Leo!"**_

 **"Leo, wake up! Wake up!"'**

Leo removed his hands from Shane's ears, and Beckendorf swept Leo into a huge hug. He was soon joined by Percy, Annabeth, Grover, the Stolls, the Futures, the rest of the Hephaestus kids, Chiron, and countless others.

"It's not your fault," Beckendorf murmured into Leo's ear.

It felt good to have a family. Leo hadn't had one of those in quite some time.

* * *

 _How was it?_


	2. GROUP HUG!

_Bit of a shorter chapter today. Sorry, guys._

 _Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and to all of those that favorited and/or followed._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything in bold belongs to NBrokenShacklesN_**

 _ **WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF ABUSE**_

* * *

Apollo closed the book, and everyone stood to take their break.

In the dining room, everyone received food, but no one felt like eating. The were all staring at Leo, almost like he was on trial.

"Leo, when we were reading chapter 25, you said that what Hera did to you is nothing compared to what some of your foster parents did. Elaborate," Annabeth ordered.

Leo sighed. "Guys, it's in the past. I'm-"

"Fine," Malcom finished. "Did you know that I'm fine is the most commonly told lie?" (True fact)

Leo blinked. "I did not, but that doesn't apply to this conversation because I am really fine."

"Are you?" Beckendorf asked. "You woke up screaming in the middle of the night. You forgot you were at camp. That's only the tip of the ice berg!"

"Yeah. 'If I didn't forgive everyone who betrayed me, I wouldn't have any friends.' Leo, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but thinking you're going to be betrayed by every single person you meet isn't normal," Nyssa said.

Leo rubbed his fingers over his forehead. "Fine, I will tell you some things, but if a subject is too touchy for me, I have the right to skip it, provided I don't skip all of them. Deal?"

"Deal," Percy agreed.

"All right. What do you want to know?"

"What happened at some of your foster homes to make them worse than what Hera did to you?" Annabeth questioned.

Leo inhaled, deeply. "Some foster homes abused me. Some foster homes were great, but others... like I said, they weren't so good."

"How many?" Nyssa asked.

"I was taken out of five. Four for abuse, one because my foster parents could no longer take care of me."

"Why?" Chris said.

"My foster dad... killed my foster mom. He tried to kill me, and he got arrested," Leo replied.

"What about getting betrayed?" Grover asked.

"That's a long story, so I'll only give you a few examples. First foster home, my social worker forgot to check in on me for several months. I was what us foster kids call 'lost in the system'. By the time he found my file, I'd been abused for around six months," Leo explained. "Another example is someone I thought was my friend ratted me out to a gang I'd ticked off (I ticked them off for a good reason, though). Not to mention all of my 'friends' that turned to Gaea in the future."

"What about your fifth foster home? What happened there?" Beckendorf demanded.

Leo gulped. "Skip. I'll tell you eventually, just not yet."

"That's all we have for now," Percy told him. "Now... group hug!"

Leo cried out in surprise as dozens of people practically tackled him in a hug.

When the people finally unattached themselves from the hug, Percy grinned to defuse the situation.

"Well, if nobody minds, I have some blue food calling my name!"

Leo chuckled. "Only you, Perce."

* * *

"Who reads next?" Apollo asked, his voice alarmingly small.

Will volunteered, and he opened the book.

'In which Leo recovers, sort of...'

 **Leo sat up with a gasp, the guilt clinging to him. Where was he? He looked round in shock at the dark cabin. Hephaestus cabin? But it was destroyed by Gaia, and Octavian. How was he here, with Nyssa sitting beside him, a frown on her face? He had seen Nyssa die, seen as a sword was driven through her from behind, courtesy of one of Gaia's earthborn.'**

Nyssa gulped, and Chris placed a hand on her shoulder.

 **'So how was she here? And looking years younger that he had last seen her. Unless this was Elysium, and he had died, but then, the underworld had been destroyed.** '

Hades paled (and impressive feat, considering he was already as pale as a corpse) at the reminder.

' **"Leo?" Nyssa reached out her arm, and Leo backed off, pressing himself against the wall, hands coming up to defend himself.'**

Nyssa wrapped her arms around Leo.

"Leo, I would never hurt you," Nyssa whispered.

Leo nodded, "I know, hermana."

Nyssa didn't know much Spanish, but she knew what hermana meant, and she felt tears fill her eyes. (Hermana: sister)

' **"Please," Leo whimpered, causing Nyssa to draw back with a frown and glance to someone else. Who was that? He looked like Beckendorf, or descriptions of Beckendorf he had been given, but he too looked young. "What's going on? Where am I?"**

 **The guy who looked like Beckendorf came forward, and Leo cringed. If it was Beckendorf, would he be mad that Leo had gotten Nyssa and everyone killed.'**

Beckendorf embraced Leo.

"It's not your fault," Beckendorf repeated.

 **'It was his fault after all; even his Mom had said so. All his fault, of course Beckendorf would be mad, if fact he'd probably kick him out of the cabin. He deserved it of course. Beckendorf placed a hand of his shoulder, and Leo cringed and shrunk away, waiting for the blow that would surely come.'**

Beckendorf looked like he wanted to cry.

"Leo, I would never, ever hurt you. You're my brother," Beckendorf mumbled.

Leo smiled, sadly. "In my experience, that doesn't mean much, but... I believe you."

Beckendorf didn't exactly like the answer, but he'd take it.

 **'Nyssa was lying in bed awake, thinking about her new little brother. He was practically a genius in the forge, and she felt slightly guilty she hadn't noticed him at all in the week he had been a camp. She had seen him glancing wistfully at the forge, but hadn't really paid attention. Hades, he must think she was an awful sister. What sort of sister doesn't even notice her brother for a week?'**

Leo smiled. "Nyssa, I don't hate you. You made a much better impression than future you did."

Nyssa frowned. "I did?"

"Yeah, being head councilor had hammered you down hard. I thought you might beat me up just for looking at you funny."

"Of course I will," Nyssa laughed, and everyone joined her.

 **'She was slightly apprehensive of his team up with the Stolls though, his genius in the forge, if it was turned to pranks... She didn't want the camp razed to the ground, but that seemed the most lightly outcome... "No, please, no,**

 **Nyssa turned in her bed, to look over at the bed that had Leo in. She frowned; he was tossing and turning like he was having a bad dream. O gods, what if he was? He had said earlier that he hadn't been in a workshop for a while, and that his mom did have a sense of humour. She didn't need to be an Athena kid to figure out his mom's death was the reason he hadn't been in a workshop for ages. What if his being in the forge had brought back unwanted memories? She heard mutters coming from him, and strained her ears to hear them. "Mom, no!"**

 **Nyssa winced, she was a year round camper, since her mom had died in childbirth, and she had been in foster care since. Her foster parents had been devout Christians though, and when they heard about her father, they hadn't believed it at all, and had politely told her to leave and never come back, after driving her too camp. But then sending her off. Yeah, she felt slightly resentful, but hey, they had given her money, and a way to camp, so she didn't hate them. Especially not once she found out some of her brother's pasts. Let's just say the scars on Chris's back hadn't come from a monster (well not a monster from Tartarus, though she defiantly deserved to be sent there!)'**

Chris looked at his lap, and Leo placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes filled with understanding.

 **'Point was, Nyssa didn't really know how to comfort Leo, but she knew who did...**

 **Charles Beckendorf was having a very nice, dream free sleep, at least he had been. He woke with a jerk to feel someone shaking him. He regretted not retreating into his private room, but it was cabin policy that everyone remains in the main room on a new camper's first night. Just in case.'**

"I'm grateful you do that, but what could happen?" Percy asked.

Beckendorf shrugged. "New campers don't always do well in a new place. Before we made that rule, the first night was known as runaway night. New campers would panic and run away because of the new place. Usually by the second day, new campers start to wind down a bit."

Percy nodded.

 **"He grunted and sat up.**

 **"Nyssa? What..."**

 **"Leo, I think he's having a nightmare."**

 **Beckendorf glanced over at the bed that held his new brother, worry clear on his face. He didn't show much emotion outside the cabin, but with his siblings, who were as socially awkward as he was, it didn't seem to matter as much that he was bad at expressing himself. He was the oldest in the cabin, the leader, the big brother, and he hated it when his siblings were hurting. He was better with machines than people, but he still didn't want his family sad.**

 **He was worried about his newest brother. He couldn't say littlest, because Shane was younger, even if he was almost as tall. Leo was seriously small for a son of Hephaestus. He was full of humour, but Beckendorf could see the sorrow he was trying to hide.'**

Leo blinked. "Maybe you should spend time with my friend Piper. She does that emotions things, too. You two would get along, swimmingly."

 **'Maybe he was spending too much time with Silena.. Leo cried out again, and Beckendorf frowned. It seemed he was right to worry.**

 **He quickly through off the covers, and made his way over to Leo's bed, just in time to hear his brother cry again. "I'm I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, please, please, I'm sorry." Looked like he was carrying round a bucket load of guilt. His mom's death?**

 **Nyssa seemed like she couldn't watch any longer, she sat next to Leo, who was now curled up in a ball, sobbing softly. She placed a hand on his arm. "Leo!" "Leo, wake up, wake up!"**

 **Nyssa's almost shout definitely woke the other three in the cabin, and Beckendorf heard Jake, Chris and Shane join him, looking at Leo in worry.**

 **Leo shot up with a gasp, and confused eyes looked around, before coming to settle on Nyssa. He kept crying, though his eyes showing such a deep sadness that he heard Chris gasp, and Shane whimper, Beckendorf didn't blame him, heck, he felt like whimpering at the amount of pain in the eyes of his little brother, and vowed revenge on whoever put it there, if they weren't dead already. Shane was only eight after all, he could whimper if he wanted to.**

 **"Leo?" Meanwhile, Nyssa had reached out an arm toward the still shaking Leo, who shrunk back in fear. The look in his eyes reminded Beckendorf of a caged animal, scared and in pain, almost feral.**

 **"Please." Leo raised his hands to shield his face, and pressed further back, his eyes wide and blown. Nyssa turned toward Beckendorf her eyes helpless and pleading. He moved forward coming closer to the bed, as Leo spoke again. "What's going on? Where am I?"**

 **The uncertainty in Leo's voice was painful, and Beckendorf placed a hand on his shoulder, wincing slightly when Leo drew back, and turned away, shaking more, and looking like he expected to be hit. Beckendorf quickly removed his hand, and saw Leo relax a little. He gently turned Leo's head so he could see right into Leo's frightened eyes.**

 **"It's ok Leo, you're safe. No-one's gonna hurt you."**

 **"W-, who are you?"**

 **"I'm your brother, Beckendorf, remember. You're at camp, somewhere safe from the monsters. And no-one here will hurt you." Beckendorf had a momentary thought of Clarisse,'**

"Hey!" Clarrise shouted. "I wouldn't hurt him enough to give him nightmares."

She actually sounded incredibly offended. Typicaly, she'd be glad to hear that she hurt someone.

 **'but he wouldn't let her hurt Leo. At least not anymore that she had already hurt him. He recalled Leo's second day at camp, when she had challenged him to a fight, and he had fought with a hammer, which really should have made it obvious who his father was. And he had managed to hold his own for so long, that when Clarisse finally won she declared that, "You're not too bad for a runt", which was pretty much the highest praise you got from Clarisse.**

 **Leo still looked confused, "but, what Camp?" Beckendorf frowned, then immediately stopped when Leo shrunk in on himself again, it was like Leo had completely forgotten the last week.**

 **Leo spoke again, "Where's Percy?"**

 **Percy Jackson? Beckendorf thought. It must be, "Percy's fine, he's sleeping in his cabin, and no-one's gonna hurt him either."**

 **Those seemed to be the words that calmed him down, and his confused eyes returned to normal, although he now looked embarrassed. "Aw, man, a nightmare now... I haven't had one in ages. I hoped they'd gone."**

 **Beckendorf was more worried over the fact Leo had had nightmares before, than he had one now.. He was so glad it had been today, and not tomorrow, when everyone retreated into private rooms, and he wouldn't have had a clue his brother was having a nightmare. He was glad that Leo seemed to be back to normal now, and he leant forward, and wrapped his arms around Leo's small frame.**

 **Leo stiffened, then relaxed. And somehow, Beckendorf wasn't particularly surprised when he felt Nyssa join the hug, then Shane, and then the other two gave shrugs, and joined the group hug simultaneously.**

 **When they all separated out, Chris snickered, then Leo joined in, and before long they were all practically rolling on the floor laughing, though none of them had a clue what they were laughing at. The yell of "Shut up, punks!" and the thrown grenade that shook the cabin only seemed to increase the hilarity.'**

Silence reigned for several long moments.

"GROUP HUG!" Percy yelled, suddenly, which made everyone laugh.

After a few seconds, Leo choked out from the middle, "Can't breathe."

The hug seperated, and Artemis accepted the book.

"Chapter 3," she read, "In which Leo captures a flag..."

* * *

 _I know there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but since NBrokenShacklesN made this as a hurt/comfort chaoter, it kind of did the talking for me..._

 _There will be more dialogue next chapter, though, because Leo gets his chance to be totally epic in Capture The Flag_


	3. An Epic Game of Capture The Flag

_The epic chapter! At least in my opinion._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

 **'"Whose team are we on?"**

 **Leo had been looking forward to capture the flag all week, and yeah, so what if he had been knocked out by a bench two nights ago, and had a nightmare that woke his entire cabin last night (which he was still kinda embarrassed about), he was not missing it!'**

"Determination!" Travis and Connor cheered.

 _'_ **The rest of his cabin were being very protective of him,'**

"Of course we are, dufus!" All of the Hephaestus kids yelled in unison.

Leo leaned away and hissed into Percy's ear, "They're speaking in unsion. It's creepy."

Percy laughed and nodded.

 **'and while he didn't blame them, he would have done the same to Harley,'**

"Who's Harley?" Shane piped up.

Leo smiled. "Our future little brother."

' _or any of the others who were in the Hephaestus cabin in his past future. It was getting a little irritating though, even Shane was being overprotective, and he was four years younger for Hephaestus's sake! It was Leo's job to protect him, not the other way around.'_

"Hey, the rule is siblings protect siblings. I don't hear an age in there," Shane snapped.

Leo shrugged. "Very good point."

 _'_ **Leo was still kinda shaken up about the dream though; he had asked Chaos about it. The reply of 'I only dulled the memories, I couldn't take them away entirely' explained why he was getting the nightmares. But it was just his dam bad luck that made sure the first nightmare he had in the past, or present now, was his first day in cabin 9. He knew the cabin rule about no-one sleeping in their underground room during someone's first day. It would have been easier to wake up alone and sort it out without his siblings being overprotective. Then again, he was forced to admit to himself, he kinda liked that his siblings were being protective, and that they had comforted him last night. It was good to see that they cared.'**

"Of course we care, dufus!" The Hephaestus kids yelled in tandem.

Leo groaned. "Guys, I know, but the unison, it's gotta stop. It's incredibly creepy.'

' **"Leo, you're spacing out. Are you sure you're OK."**

 **Nyssa, of course she would notice, out of all of cabin 9, she was the best with 'organic life forms' as his dad would say. "I'm fine Nyssa, honestly, I was just thinking." He didn't think that helped his case. Time to change the subject before he dug a hole so deep it reached Tartarus.**

 **"Whose team are we on?"**

 **Nyssa sighed, but picked up the spear she had been working on, and finally answered him. "We have made a temporary alliance with Athena, just for this game. Hermes cabin hold one of the flags; the red one. Athena cabin the other. Hermes got the flag off Ares last time; so now Hermes holds the flag. It's Hermes, Apollo, Dionysius, Ares and Aphrodite. They're against Athena, Poseidon, Demeter and us. We're outnumbered, but they're outclassed."**

 **Leo grinned, Hermes cabin were tricksters, they'd be hard to beat, and there were lots of them, since all the unclaimed demi-gods were thrown in there as well, which Leo still thought was harsh. He thought it even harsher that Hades didn't have a cabin;'**

Hades blinked. Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been that.

 **'he'd save complaining about that for another day though. So, Hermes would be hard, Apollo's were fast, and brilliant archers, they'd also have to be watched. Dionysius could be bad vine-wise, but since their side had Demeter, though vines could be nullified. So Dionysius was no threat. Ares were dangerous, preferring to attack head on, so if you got past them, you were alright.. Aphrodite's didn't care, unless they were Piper, or the hunters were the opposition. They were no threat at all.**

 **But, Leo's side, or rather Athena's side, had battle strategy and skill to back it up. They had Percy, who in himself was a one man army when he tried his best. Demeter, who could string nasty traps, and Hephaestus, who could do the same... Just better.'**

"Hey!" Demeter kids yelled, glaring at him.

"Sorry!" Leo yelped.

' **All in all, Leo's team was more defensive, but, the best offence is a good defence. If Demeter and Hephaestus could hold up Apollo, Hermes and Ares long enough for Annabeth to get the flag with her invisibility hat, then they were home free.'**

Athena nodded. "Very good strategies and deciding on weaknesses and strengths of your fellow demigods."

Leo blinked. "Thank you, Lady Athena."

 **'Before too long, well after Leo had to sit through tea, sending glares at the Stolls all the way through, so he still might hold a bit of a grudge for the bench thing. Then they were armoured up and in the forest. Leo grinned, he had spent his time in the forge that morning making armour that actually fitted him, so he didn't feel like Percy looked, a mouse in an elephant's armour. Thought that could be a slight exaggeration. More like ten year old Nico in Beckendorf's armour.'**

Hades barked a laugh, and Zeus fought back a snicker. They were the only ones that knew what Nico looked like at ten, so the mental image was quite funny.

 **"Having fun Percy?"**

 **"Oh Haha, very funny, It's not my fault nothing fit's me!"**

 **Leo grinned at the sarcasm, "You're a better fighter with less armour anyway, heck, you fought Ares with no armour, and won,'**

Ares sputtered. "You did not wi-"

"Let me finish, Ares," Artemis said before continuing.

' **at least, didn't get killed, and wounded him."'**

Ares huffed, but he didn't correct the book.

' **"True." Percy yanked of the helmet, and grinned, "I'm going in armour less."**

 **Leo saw Beckendorf frowning out of the corner of his eye, as he came toward the two. "Are you sure you don't want armour Percy? It could put you at a disadvantage not having it."**

 **Beckendorf snorted. "Got that right."**

 **Then Annabeth was telling them all where to go, and situating Percy on the creek, with instruction to stop anyone crossing by trapping them in it, or creating a wall of water. Leo was sent to attack, which surprised him as Hephaestus cabin was normally on defence. According to Annabeth, Leo was a right sneaky brat when he wanted to be. Leo didn't know whether to be insulted or complemented.'**

"Settle for both," Reyna stated.

Leo nodded. "I'll do that."

' **Leo was sneaking through the undergrowth; he had already passed a Ares sentry, a Hermes sentry and an Apollo sentry. He thought he was home free, until he heard a noise behind him, and turned to see an Aphrodite girl. In fact he thought it was Silena.**

 **"Schist! Um would you mind letting me through?"**

 **"Why should I do that?"**

 **"Because you owe me for the bench thing."'**

"We've taught him so well," Travis said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"They grow up so fast," Connor agreed, sniffling.

"You nearly killed me with a bench!" Leo yelled.

The Stoll brothers blushed.

' **Leo saw Silena frown, then step to the side, Two minutes then I'm screaming that someone's here. Got it?"**

 **"How do I know you won't scream immediately?"**

 **"Beautiful people never lie Valdez." Leo grinned and ran, in that moment Silena had seemed so much like Piper, you could defiantly tell they were sisters. His smile dropped as he got closer to the flag, and kept an eye out for traps. He missed Piper. She was like his sister, and being at camp without her felt kind of weird.**

 **Leo froze, as he reached the clearing with the Hermes flag in. He could hear breathing that wasn't his own, and glanced around. No-one. He took a wild guess and glanced up.'**

"Maybe we taught him _too_ well," Travis muttered.

"He knows our tricks," Connor added.

 **'Score! The Stolls sat in two trees opposite one another, their eyes trained of the flag, and occasionally the surrounding woodland. He had been right to assume that most of the opposite team would be attacking. Leo didn't relax though. There could still be traps.**

 **Leo felt out with the sixth sense he had for mechanics. There was a clip of metal 3 feet away from the flag there, and there. Leo barely stopped himself gasping, Mines! Actually why was he surprised? This was the Ares cabin after all. All he had to do was avoid them. But first, he had to take out the Stolls. How would he do that?**

 **Then Leo saw a flash of blue on the other side of the clearing. Another attacker and it looked like Conner had seen them too. He nodded to Travis who dropped down to face the attacker. The four attackers Leo corrected himself. Travis was clearly outmatched, and Conner dropped from his tree and ran to help. While the two were distracted Leo made a silent dash for the flag, nimbly avoiding all the Mines.'**

"That wasn't even a part of the plan," an Athena kid shrugged, "but it works."

' **As he picked up the flag and turned, a scream echoed from the way he had come, two minutes were obviously up. Travis turned to the scream, and saw Leo making off with the flag. One of the Athena campers knocked him out before he could raise the alarm. Did that count as maiming?"**

Chiron shook his head. "No, maiming is if someone requires a prolonged visit to the Infirmary."

Leo nodded in understanding.

 **'Conner shouted instead, and Leo dogged of through the trees, he had an advantage. Due to his adventures with Festus, he knew the forest better than almost anyone. He knew where to hide so he wouldn't be caught. He grinned, and kept running, still silently. He was good at running, always had been.'**

People shifted in their seats, unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

' **He almost made it too. Twenty feet before the creek, where he could see Percy grinning at him, he saw a group of Apollo campers waiting for him, swerving left; he saw a group of Hermes campers, advancing on him. He had been too worried about someone following him to think about an ambush. He saw Nyssa standing behind the Apollo campers. A mad idea grew in his head.**

 **Leo jumped high, yelled his sisters name and lobed the flag over the Apollo kids heads. Nyssa jumped, caught it, and hightailed to the creek, the Apollo and Hermes cabins hot on her trail. Percy willed the creak to rise, and splashed it on the campers, disorientating them, as Nyssa made it safely across what remained of the stream. Chiron's horn blew, and the game was won.'**

"That was one of the best capture the flag games ever!" An Ares kid named Max yelled. "I'm saying that, and I was on the losing side!"

Several people agreed, and Chiron took the book.

"Chapter 4," he read, "In which Leo gets lost."

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 _Did you all like the chapter? REVIEW, my friends. Reviews keep me motivated, and motivation keeps me updating._


	4. A Giant Spider- Been There, Done That

_I've returned for another chapter. I'm having a great start on this story; let's hope I can keep it up._

 _I will warn you, though. I am visiting family in Florida from Saturday, October 14th and Wednesday the 18th and will likely not be posting during that time. Also, if I fall off the grid during the last week of October, it's because the new season of Stranger Things came out and I will be Binge watching. Just a fair warning._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything in bold belongs to NBrokenShacklesN_**

* * *

 **'Leo had been congratulated by everyone on his throw, even the Hermes cabin, who, while they were a bit mad for losing the flag, could accept that he won fairly. Leo had even got an "Alright throw, Punk," from Clarisse, which made people look at him like he'd done the impossible.'**

"You did!" Travis exclaimed.

 **'Perhaps he had, as far as he knew Clarisse never complemented anyone, but the time traveller couldn't talk about abnormal.'**

"Yeah, that's be weird," Annabeth muttered. "Almost as much as Percy's fear of drowning."

"You can't drown, son," Poseidon said, an eyebrow raised.

"I can't?" Percy said. "Awesome!"

"You can breathe under water. What did you think?" Leo asked.

Percy shrugged. "I thought there was a time limit. Like scuba divers."

' **The next day, the Hephaestus cabin explained all the modifications on the Hephaestus cabin, some of which he hadn't even known about in the future. The tunnels under the cabin also intrigued him, and he was sure that one of them lead to Bunker nine, only question was which one. He was planning on exploring them sometime. Like as soon as his siblings stopped stalking him!'**

"Well, now, we're _never_ going to stop stalking you," Beckendorf said.

Leo groaned. "Of course."

 **'Seriously, he appreciated their care, honestly, but it was starting to seem like he couldn't even go to the loo without a bodyguard. His siblings weren't particularly good at being subtle. Seems that was one thing they all got from their father- a disability to deal with organic life forms.'**

"Have you met yourself?" Grover questioned.

Leo laughed. "Hey, I have the issue, too. I'm not a hypocrite."

 **'On the plus side, Leo's battle training was finally kicking off. Leo had spent last week training with the Hermes cabin. Due to the number in their however, it meant that Leo hadn't really done much. Now he was in his dad's cabin, and the Hephaestus cabin were doing sword training today. Leo's preferred weapon was a flaming hammer, but he was alright with a sword, at least he could hold his own (though he could never beat Percy). He would have to make a load of mistakes though. There was no way he would be able to do what he had done in the future on his first time, it would attract too much suspicion. He knew that should he stand out too much, Luke would tell Kronos, and being on the Titans lord's 'to watch' list, was not on his own 'to do' list.'**

"I don't think it's on anybody's," Nyssa said.

 **'So, as the cabin trooped toward the arena, Leo felt his apprehension grow, if only by a little. He need not have worried though. When they reached the arena, the Ares cabin was still in it, practicing, and after a brief argument with Clarisse, Beckendorf returned with a scowl, and the news that they would be going to the climbing wall instead.**

 **Leo grinned; he hadn't been on the firewall yet, at least not this time at camp. He couldn't help but want to get to it. It wasn't so unusual to be good on the climbing wall, so he figured he didn't need to hold back.'**

"Still impressed us," Chris chirped.

 **'Two minutes later, after Beckendorf's lecture of safety, that Leo promptly ignored,'**

"Rule number one," Percy said in a wise guy impression, "throw safety to the wind."

"No!" Everyone yelled.

"Yes!" Travis, Connor, and Leo shouted.

 **'he was standing at the bottom of the wall, mental recording the patterns to the lava flow. Beckendorf had slowed the lava flow, as it was his first time. Leo hadn't even known that it was possible to slow it. He took a deep breath, and leapt at the wall. Swing, dodge, grab another handhold, swing again, and lunge. Before he knew it he was at the top, looking down on the astonished faces of his siblings. His manic grin promptly reappearing on his elfish face.'**

"That isn't your usual grin?" Percy questioned.

Leo opened his mouth before shutting it and knitting his eyebrows.

"You know... you might be onto something here," he muttered, causing Percy to laugh.

 **After the session of climbing, in which it was proved that while Leo might not be as strong as his siblings, he was defiantly more agile. As proved when he challenged Beckendorf to a race when the wall was at full power- he didn't expect that the burns his brother had would be going away anytime soon.**

"Nope," Beckendorf replied, showing everyone his burned hands.

' **As the siblings returned to their cabin after lunch, from which Leo had snagged a couple of snacks. He needed them. He was planning on exploring the tunnels, and he needed something to eat if he got lost. He hoped that he wouldn't get too far lost, but hey, this was him. Poster boy for Murphy's Law. If it was possible to get hopelessly lost down there, as Leo was sure it was, then chances were he would get hopelessly lost.'**

"If you knew that, why did you go?" Nyssa asked.

"What is life without a little trial and error?" Leo questioned.

"A safe life!" Nyssa responded.

"A boring life!" One of the other Hermes kids called.

"Exactly!" Leo called, ignoring Nyssa.

 **'He made his excuses, and his cabin mates all left for the forge, Nyssa sending him a worried glance; though his smile seemed to sooth her worry. As soon as they were out of sight, Leo jumped onto his bed, and pressed the descend button. His bed began to slowly sink into the floor bellow it, and it creaked some as it descended. Leo made a mental note to check out the mechanism of the bed. Maybe it needed a little oiling.**

 **Then he was in the private room, with pale blue walls, and very little else. Leo grimaced as he looked around. This room reminded him to much of the ones in foster care. He needed to sort that. He reached for his tool belt, then realised he didn't have it yet. Another reason for him to find bunker 9.**

 **Leo tapped Morse code onto the wall directly opposite the bed, a way of getting into the tunnels. He knew this from his future time at camp, when Harley had discovered it by accident, and had blurted it all out to Leo the next day.'**

"How did he discover it by accident?" Shane asked.

Leo shrugged. "He was inventing something, and one of the rubber bands popped off. Sent the machine flying into the wall and hit the button dead on. He freaked out, though. He was still freaked out the next day."

 **'Grinning, Leo set of down the tunnels, tying one of the balls of wool he had nicked from crafts around the bed, and forgetting to shut the door. He didn't notice the wool strain against the bed as he pulled it tight, and when he turned away, it hit the up button, the bed once more rising to join all the others in the cabin.'**

"If the bed creaks, how did you not notice it?" Beckendorf demanded.

Leo shrugged. "Fate. Destiny. Murphy's law. Bad luck. Could've been tons of things."

"Got that right, brother," Percy said, high fiving Leo.

"These two are going to be a nightmare," Annabeth mumbled to Nyssa, who nodded in agreement.

' **Before he had reached the end of the tunnels he already knew about, Leo's first ball of wool began to run out, and he paused to attach the second, and then continued on his way. He passed the underground armoury, but paused at the amount of dust on the door. Was it possible that the Hephaestus cabin hadn't found it in this time? He shoved the door open, coughing at the dust. It was still full! Leo laughed- his first discovered room (disregarding the fact he had known about it in the future). Then movement in the corner made him freeze, and a dark shape loomed out of the corner.**

 **"Holy Hephaestus!" Coming out of the shadows was the biggest spider Leo had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of spiders.'**

"Including Arachne," Leo stated.

Athena flinched, and her children cried out.

"She goes to Tarturas eventually," Leo assured them.

 **'Leo backed up, he didn't particularly like spiders. He wasn't scared of them or anything, he had seen much worse things, but seeing one of his best friends dragged into Tartarus by the mother of spiders...'**

"What?" Annabeth demanded. "It wasn't me, was it?"

"Maybe? But I'll make sure it doesn't happen in this time."

 **'Didn't really endear the species to him.**

 **Leo heard the spider's pinchers clipping, almost like there was a rhythm to it. Leo listened more intently, could it possibly be?'**

"Uh, there's some Morse code here," Chiron called before translating (he spoke almost every language known to man and gods). "Please don't kill me."

 **.-. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. - -. .-. - / -.- .. .-.. .-.. / - .**

 **It was! The freaking spider was speaking in Morse code! Well, since the spider wasn't attacking, Leo figured he should at least give it a chance, after all, this was her? His? The spiders home as well.**

 **"I won't kill you, if you wouldn't mind not killing me. Is there a reason you are here, or is it just your home." Leo didn't really know much about homes. He had left his only home after his mom died, and though camp sort of became his home, he had to leave it before he could get too attached. Maybe this time round he would be able to call camp home, and mean it.'**

"Oh, trust me, you will," Beckendorf responded.

"We promise," Percy agreed.

 **'Leo listened intently to the spider's story, told as briefly as possible in dots and dashes. By the end he had to sit down, the story was almost impossible to believe, but the spider had sworn on the river Styx. Leo frowned as a thought occurred to him. In his time there was no spider guarding the armoury. In his time, there was no spider at all. No the future, not his time. This was his time now. But his siblings wouldn't have known about the spider set by the Hephaestus kids of the 1800's, they would have called her a monster and killed her.**

 **Leo was glad that hadn't happened this time. A thought occurred to him, "Do you have a name?"**

 **-.-**

"No," Chiron translated.

 **"Then do you mind me giving you one?"**

 **-.-**

"No," Chiron translated again.

 **"Shelob, after one of the greatest spiders in the literacy world!" Yes, Leo had read Lord of the Rings, once Annabeth had found out that he never got chance to, she ordered a Greek copy, and tied his legs to a chair in an empty room, with the book in front of him.'**

"Cruelty," Percy muttered. "She made you _read_."

Leo shrugged. "It actually wasn't too bad.

The Stolls and Percy gasped, scandalized.

"Traitor!" The three yelled.

 **'He had no choice but read it- if he wanted his tool belt back. Leo was presently surprised at how much he actually liked it. Though he figured that Annabeth was regretting making him read it after his tenth "One does not simply walk into..." jokes. The stink eyes he got for his "one does not simply walk into the roman camp" really gave him chills.'**

"Roman camp?" Annabeth demanded.

"READ!" All of the gods screamed at Chiron as their heads threatened to split open.

"You'll find out later," Leo muttered to the daughter of Athena.

 **'Leo stood up, ready to keep exploring the tunnels. "Shelob, would you like to come with me? I'm trying to find a tunnel to bunker nine..."**

 **.. / -.-. .- -. / .-.. . .- -.. / -.- - ..- / - ... . .-. . / ... .. .-.**

"I can lead you there, sir," Chiron translated.

 **"You can lead me there? That's great! But please, don't call me sir, my names Leo."**

 **After a brief argument with Shelob over what she should call him, with her resolutely ignoring his commands to just call him Leo, and settling on Master Leo, which was even worse than sir, in Leo's opinion. The two set off down the tunnel, Leo following Shelob, with an irritated scowl on his face. He hated loosing arguments. Though he should be used to it by now. After all, no-one ever won an argument with Annabeth (except Percy).'**

Annabeth scoffed. "Yeah, right. He'd never win an argument with me."

Leo shrugged. "You'd be surprised. He eventually develops quite the gift."

"Awesome," Percy muttered, and Annabeth wacked him over the head.

"Aww, they're fighting like a old married couple, and they're not even dating yet!" Leo pretended to squeal.

Percy and Annabeth thumped him, simultaneously.

"Beckendorf, they're ganging up on me. Hide me!" Leo yelped.

Beckendorf laughed. "I love you, little bro, but you're on your own here. I'm not stupid enough to start something with those two, especially when they're working together."

Leo rubbed his forehead where he'd been thumped. "I don't blame you."

 **'The tunnels got more dusty and cobweb-y'**

"Not a word," Annabeth chirped.

"Bleh," Leo retaliated.

' **the further the two journeyed down them, and Shelob paused to explain that as she was the only one in them for many years, she couldn't do much but weave webs. Leo was getting a little tired of the boring walls though. The most exciting parts were the cave-ins, which Shelob cleared with almost no difficulty. If Leo had managed to get this far on his own, he would have been forced to go back by the cave ins, but Shelob got rid of that obstacle.**

 **Leo kept winding his wool though, it wasn't that he didn't trust Shelob (though he didn't completely), just he wanted an alternate way back; should Shelob wish to stay in the bunker. Leo was too busy winding that he didn't look where he was going, and tripped over a rock in the floor. Shelob paused, and then scuttled up the wall, and over, so she was facing him. She picked him up, gently with one of her giant pinchers, and placed him on her back, moving around so she was once again facing forward. Then she rushed off, at a speed that a cheater would find hard to match.**

 **Before too long had passed, Shelob stopped before a solid wall, and slid him off to stand in front of her.**

 **\- - ..- -.-. ... / .. - -..- / - .- ... - . .-.**

 **Leo stuck his hand out, as per Shelob's instruction, and placed it palm up on the stone, which rolled away to one side, and revealed the back of bunker nine. Leo laughed and ran in, followed by Shelob, who was chattering excitedly, as she sped to a massive spider's web in the corner, which Leo guiltily remembered, he had burnt in the future.**

 **Leo however ran to the workbench that he had claimed was 'his'. The tool belt was just there, as it had been the first time, and he put it on with glee, smiling as he wiped the dust off the bench. Leo looked up to see Festus's wings, and made a mental note to find the dragon someday soon. Leo pulled out the draw in front of the desk- expecting it to be empty.**

 **It wasn't, his gasp made Shelob come scuttling, but he waved her off with a grin. His blueprints! All the designs he left at Yancy- they were here. Leo pulled them out, and scattered them over his bench, noticing a sheet of paper that didn't have his handwriting on.**

 **'Careful where you leave these, Son'**

 **Leo gulped, not his writing, not Chaos's. He had finally gotten a message from his father.'**

"Hephaestus!" Zeus yelled.

Hephaestus shrugged. "You turned your daughter into a tree to preserve her life force. You can interfere in your child's life, but I can't interfere in mine?"

Zeus promptly shut his mouth.

"I thought so."

Percy took the book, which was surprised given Percy's general avoidance of anything that involved reading, and read the chapter:

"In Which Leo Introduces His New Friend."

* * *

 _I have no idea what the last Morse code message means. I translated it, but I got something really weird, so one of us had a faulty translator._

 _How was the chapter? Good? Bad? Any suggestions on how I can make the story better?_


	5. Weirder Things Have Happened

_Words can't even express how sorry I am for the long awaited update. Here's the embarrassing truth: I forgot about this story..._

 _Told you it was embarrassing._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything in bold belongs to NBrokenShacklesN_**

* * *

 **'Leo gulped. He had been nervous about contact with his father, partly because he still didn't know where he stood in regards to him. He must have known about Leo's 'gift' and how he had caused his mom's death - did he hate him?'**

"Of course I don't hate you," Hephaestus stated. "First of all, I know you didn't kill your mother. You're not capable of killing someone you love. As for your gift, I gave it to you, even if accidentally. I can't hate you for having it if I gave it to you."

"That's the most motivational speech I've ever heard out of him," Apollo said.

"Who knew Hephaestus was a softie?" Hermes teased, and Artemis wacked both of them upside the head.

"Arty!" Apollo complained. "I complimented him!"

Artemis shrugged. "Sorry," she stated, not sounding very apologetic (they were twins. Saying sorry was rare. Meaning it was almost impossible). She wacked him upside the head again. "That was for calling me, Arty!"

 **'The action of returning his blueprints seemed to indicate otherwise; but Leo wasn't sure anymore. In the future, Hephaestus had told him that he was proud of him, and that had meant the world to him. But how would he be proud when Leo hadn't done anything?**

"Oh, believe me, you've done stuff," Hephaestus said. "Your science experiments, your traps for your enemies, how you took care of those monsters when you were only ten... all very impressive."

Leo blinked. "Thanks, but I just got lucky."

Nyssa smacked him on the back of the head. "Stop looking down on yourself all the time!"

Leo leaned away. "Okay, okay, no more looking down on myself. There's no need to hit."

 **'It was well known in the future that Beckendorf was Hephaestus's favourite, and Leo had never though himself up to par with Beckendorf. He didn't resent him at all- Beckendorf was his older brother, and though he had known him only a little more than a day, he still really liked him, though Leo was hesitant to admit he loved his brother. People he loved ended up dead.'**

Everyone shuffled uncomfortably in their seats at that statement.

 **'So Leo could handle Beckendorf being better than him; what he couldn't handle was the uncertainty of knowing whether or not Hephaestus cared for him. He didn't hate him, or else he would never have returned the blueprints. He guessed that Hephaestus was giving him a chance to prove himself.'**

"I returned the blue prints because they were good ideas, and I thought your ideas could benefit several people if you built them," Hephaestus corrected.

 **'Leo leant forward again, realising he had been stood stock still for minutes, and eyed the first blueprint. He was going to make his father proud!'**

Hephaestus smiled at his son's determination, although Leo had already made him proud.

"There's been a change in point of view," Percy announced before continuing.

' **"He's not moving. Why isn't he moving?" The aforementioned father leant further over the sheet of celestial bronze that showed his son. Yes he was breaking a couple of laws doing this, but as he rarely broke them, Zeus would probably let him off.'**

"We all know it's because he called you out about your daughter," Poseidon muttered.

"What did you just say?" Zeus bellowed, lighting crackling around him.

"Nothing, nothing," Poseidon replied, 'innocently.'

' **"Hephaestus, calm down, he is simply in shock."**

 **"Why Hestia? It's just a note." Hephaestus's gruff voice replied, "Not like it's an automaton that I sent. Then he would have reason to be shocked."'**

"That actually probably would've been less shocking," Leo said. "After all, a walking table didn't startle me, but I shot a fire ball at my friend Piper when she tapped me on the shoulder. I missed her, though, so now, it's actually kind of funny."

"Only you, Valdez, only you," Clarrise mumbled.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

' **"It's his first contact he's ever had with you, nephew, he's going to be a little shocked."**

 **"Humph!"**

 **Hestia giggled, it's not like the poor boy knew that his father had been watching over him since birth, that he had know immediately that something was different about this son. Though he hadn't realised till 'Tia' had dumped him in the fireplace what that special thing was. In fact the poor boy was probably worried about what his father thought about the fire incident during which his mother passed away.**

 **That had been one of the few days that neither Hephaestus nor herself had been watching, and so neither of them had seen how it actually happened, a fact that Hephaestus had been kicking himself over since. He didn't do well with organic life forms, but he cared and watched over every single one of his children. That was why Hestia got on so well with him; that and she too was interested in Leo Valdez. He was a child of fire, and he had a habit of spreading humour and hope, a habit she admired. She was just what she would want in a son- if it were possible for her to have one.'**

Leo blinked as red seeped into his cheeks.

"Leo?" Percy said as he looked over the top of the book.

"Yeah, Perce?"

"Your nose is on fire."

Leo jumped and began patting out the tiny flames sprouting up on his skin.

"What kind of world do we live in where someone can say _your nose is on fire_ so casually?" Annabeth asked.

Clarrise pointed at Leo. "Valdez."

She moved her finger and pointed at Percy. "Jackson."

She pointed at both of them. "Friends. That's the world we live in."

Annabeth nodded. "I see your point."

 **'She was so close, when she found out that Esperanza Valdez had died, to claiming Leo as her own. To raising him herself- but she knew that Zeus would never allow it. She had no wish to start a quarrel on Olympus. Instead she just guided him every time he ran, turning him away from those who would wish him serious harm. Hephaestus was forbidden by the ancient laws to help his son. She wasn't.'**

Hermes rubbed his palms together with a mischievous smile. "A loophole. Nice."

"Why didn't I ever think of that?" Apollo muttered. "Most of my kids would still be alive if I had."

Hermes leaned away, slightly disturbed. He'd never heard such a dark statement come out of his friend's mouth.

 **'She giggled again at the relived look on Hephaestus's face when Leo came to himself and bent forward over his workbench, a determined gleam in his eye. Not unlike the one she sometimes sees in his fathers. The image dissipated and Hestia transported to the fire at camp. Maybe this time someone would talk to her.'**

"This is Nyssa's point of view," Percy announced.

 **Nyssa was standing behind her workbench in the forge. Her finished cross-bow lay on the surface in front of her, and she grinned proudly. It had taken a while for her to make it; she had to restart several times. She just couldn't get the grip right. Now she had and she was considering helping someone else with what they were doing. Leo has said that he would need help with what he was working on. It seemed like he was making a sentient table. Nyssa didn't understand why, but Leo was a bit weird, so if he thought he needed a table that could walk away on its own, she had no problem helping him.'**

"You'd be surprised how useful it is," Leo said. "Except for that one time," he added, muttering under his breath.

"Did you just cuss out Windex?" Travis asked from beside him, being the only one able to hear Leo's angry muttering.

"Yes."

Travis shrugged. "Okay, then."

' **"Leo, do you need help with..." Nyssa looked up, Beckendorf was working in the corner, Jake was hammering his axe, and Chris and Shane were conspiring on something that had them smiling wickedly, and she really didn't want to know...'**

"You do not," Chris confirmed.

' **"Leo?" Leo was nowhere to be seen, she vaguely remembered him telling her he would be a bit late to the forge, and she assumed he was talking to Percy, but he should have been there by now. She shouted a little louder, "Hey guys, has anyone seen Leo?"**

 **Jake's hammering stopped. He looked round "Leo? Isn't he here yet?"**

 **"Evidently not!" Nyssa sighed "sorry Jake, I'm still kind of worried for him."**

 **Beckendorf stopped as well and the other two looked up, "We're all worried for Leo Nyssa, but if we push him, he'll shut us out." Beckendorf blinked, seemingly confused at his own profoundness.'**

"I was. In my defense, it'd been quite a weird week," Beckendorf said.

' **"I get that, but, he hasn't turned up and..." Nyssa paled as a thought struck her. "When we were explaining the tunnels... Did any of you think Leo took a little too much interest?"**

 **Jake frowned. "If he went exploring and got lost- who knows what could be in the unexplored tunnels. Leo could get attacked!"**

 **Chris and Shane exchanged looks and stood up, "Come on then, if he's lost down there, then it's our duty as siblings to go find him!"**

 **Nyssa smiled, how was it that Leo had only been in the cabin a day and a half, yet he could make them act more like a family than they had for years?'**

"I did that the first time, too. Harley suffocated me with hugs, and Nyssa slapped me with a ham sandwich."

"You got ham?" Chris demanded. "Usually, she smacks us with tuna. You must be her favorite."

"Who's Harley?" Shane asked.

Leo smiled. "Our brother," he said with a sad grin, but he didn't elaborate. Future Reyna patted him awakrdly on the shoulder.

' **"Ok guys," Beckendorf stood up, "time for a little rescue mission."**

 **It didn't take long for the five to reach the cabin, but they gained a few looks along the way, it was unusual to see one of the Hephaestus kids outside the forge when they didn't have to be, to see all five hurrying towards the cabin caused quite a stir. Nyssa saw Annabeth, the Athena kid, narrow her eyes then gasp- seemed that she had realised that Leo wasn't with them.**

 **Before Nyssa had time to worry about whether Annabeth would cause a fuss, she was inside the cabin, following her four brothers. "Leo. Leo? You in here?"**

 **The cabin was deserted, and so the five made their way to the stairs cleverly hid at the back of the cabin, the ones that lead to the tunnels. The clever thing about the stairs was that they only appeared when you pressed a hidden button, and the movement sensors installed in them meant that they would stay there as long as someone had gone down the tunnels, and mould back into the wall when the person came back up. Only problem was, they weren't down.**

 **"I don't get it," Shane turned to Beckendorf, "I thought that they stayed out when someone was down the tunnels."**

 **"They do, unless Leo found another way down." Everyone turned to look at Jake who was sitting on Leo's bed, his eyes on the wool that was tied to the bedpost, and that lead through the floor. He looked up, his eyes devoid of the laughter that had been there just ten minutes ago. "If each of the rooms below is connected to the tunnels, as we thought before, then Leo could have found a way from his room into the tunnels, without using the stairs."**

 **Nyssa frowned and jumped on the bed, pressing the down button, and the bed, with her and Jake on it began to sink through the floor. They reached the room below and, after sending the bed back up, noticed the door in the wall, with a pink line of wool entering it, and blackness behind it.**

 **"Whoa," Nyssa jumped at Chris's exclamation, she hadn't noticed the other three arrive. Beckendorf was holding a torch, and Nyssa grinned at his preparation, he was always ready for anything. She didn't blame him; after the way his mom died... He didn't want to be caught off guard again.'**

Beckendorf stared at the floor, and no one was cruel enough to push for details. Hephaestus sighed as he remember the young boy's mother. He may not have loved her as much as Esperanza, but he did care for her. Hephaestus tried not to play favorites, but Leo and Beckendorf were tied for first place because they were just like their mothers. Hephaestus couldn't ask for anything more when he thought of Esperanza and Lilly (I don't know Beckendorf's mom's name, so I made it up).

 **'Shane walked over to the door, but Beckendorf pulled him back, and took the lead himself. Nyssa rolled her eyes at the stereotypical big brother action, and then followed Beckendorf into the darkness of the tunnel- the torch following the wool along the floor.**

 **Nyssa was relieved that Leo had enough sense to put wool along the floor. This way, if he, or they, got lost, they could just follow the wool back to Leo's room. It did remind her of the story of Theseus in the labyrinth though, and he didn't exactly have a monster-free experience. Nyssa shivered, and Jake put his hand on her shoulder as they hurried along. She sent him a grateful glance, and they continued to run, pausing every so often for a rest, and so Shane could catch up.**

 **They passed a slightly open door, and Nyssa could see weapons behind it, Jake stopped and peered in. "Holy..."**

 **Beckendorf stopped, and came back, "Jake?"**

 **"It's a whole freaking armoury!"**

 **That made Beckendorf pause, and he too entered the room, Nyssa gave a glance up the tunnel- Leo was far more important than an underground armoury; But, Beckendorf had the only torch. She too entered the room, and then gave a gasp. The whole room, equal in size to the Zeus cabin, was full with weapons, covered in dust. Beckendorf grabbed a sword, signalling the others to take weapons as well, then he ushered them out of the room, and back to the wool trail.**

 **Nyssa fingered her knife, if they found Leo hurt, or... If a monster had done something to him, then she would take great delight in gutting it. Maybe children of Hephaestus weren't often fighters, but for Zeus's sake, if someone had even dared to lay a hand on her little brother... So what if he was only a year younger- she still wasn't going to let anyone near him.'**

"She scares me," Leo murmured to Travis.

"She scares everyone," Travis pointed out.

"Thank you," Nyssa replied, and the boys jumped, unaware that she'd been listening.

 **The path was getting a little more cobweb-y'**

"Not a word," Annabeth input.

"Bleh," Percy responded.

"How articulate," Annabeth snarked in return.

"Oh, re-" Will reached over and pushed the book up in front of Percy's face. Taking the hint, the boy continued to read.

 **'-and Shane was slowing down; he couldn't run as fast as the others, and he was lagging. Beckendorf stopped for a rest, and the others stopped as well, they hadn't talked much, just a few exclamations about the rooms they had passed, but as the wool went on past them, it was obvious that Leo wasn't in any of them. They had already passed about four fall ins- some were incredibly thick, and Nyssa couldn't work out how Leo had managed to clear them.**

 **Shane was puffing hard now, and Nyssa regarded him with pity, it was probably hard on him doing all this running. Beckendorf seemed to think the same thing, and picked him up, much to his protest. They began running again, at a slightly reduced pace, with Shane holding the torch. By now the wool had changed colour at least ten times, and Nyssa was wondering how much wool Leo had!'**

"Who owns that much wool anyway?" Connor asked.

"A boy who learned how to knit his own clothes from elderly homeless women."

Connor promptly shut up.

 **'It had been about four hours since they had entered, Nyssa reckoned. She wondered if Chiron was worried yet- an entire cabin had disappeared- that would be hard to explain to Olympus. _"What do you mean you lost the Hephaestus cabin?"'_**

"Weirder things have happened," Chiron promised.

"Remember the summer of 2002?" Travis asked.

Those who had been there either shuddered or laughed.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"You don't want to know," Annabeth told him. "It's the bead with the centaur in the prom dress."

"You're right. I _don't_ want to know," Percy confirmed.

 **'Nyssa snorted, Leo's humour must be catching. But as long as she didn't get a mad urge to go pranking with the Stolls, she didn't particularly mind.'**

The Stolls gasped.

"Why wouldn't you want to go pranking with us?"

"We're awesome!"

Katie smacked them upside the head, and the boys rubbed the offended spots while Percy continued to read.

 **'Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel, and paused in front of the door, hearing noises from inside, Beckendorf handed Shane over to Jake: then raised his sword, and entered the room, closely followed by the others, who subconsciously make a semicircle around Jake and Shane, protecting the youngest.**

 **Nyssa glanced around the room; more warehouses sized really- a big warehouse. She saw workbenches and tools scattered around- most covered in dust. It looked like a massive forge- better than the camp one. Apart from the cobwebs everywhere. There was a sound coming from the other end of the massive room. Leo's voice- humming Star Wars.'**

"Why Stars Wars?" Annabeth asked.

Leo gasped. "Star Wars is amazing."

"Star Trek is better," Chris stated.

Leo gasped. "You take that back!"

"Boys," Nyssa said, firmly.

Leo stared at his brother. "This discussion isn't over," he told him before turning back to Percy.

 **'She let out a sigh of relief as she saw him stand up from behind a workbench and frown at the contraption in his hands. He seemed to be fine, which relieved her worry, but made her annoyed instead. Yeah he wanted to explore, but really- they must be miles away from the cabin by now- he should at least have told them what he was doing, or ask one of them to come with him! He had only half a day of training for Olympus's sake!'**

"Well, technically I have a week and a half of camp training, and some more training if you count training with Percy and Jason," Leo said.

"How long were you at camp?" Connor asked. "In the future, I mean."

"Around six months. The futures and I will tell you the story later, but let's just say I was busy," Leo said.

 **'Her attention was drawn away from Leo, when Chris jumped, peering into the darkness, and his sword clattered to the floor. Nyssa jumped, and hurled her knife at the lumpy shape she could see in the darkness, it looked kind of like a massive spider.**

 **Unfortunately, said massive spider managed to dodge, though it retreated further. Nyssa frowned- shouldn't it be attacking by now?**

"This is Leo's Point of View," Percy said.

 **'Leo didn't know how long he'd been in the bunker, and he didn't particularly care. He realised that he should get back before his siblings began to worry, but they probably already had by now, and it felt so good to be in the bunker again.**

 **He had started on one of the blueprints for Buddfetta. He had promised future Buford that He'd make a friend for him- a girlfriend. He might get little tables running around... Yeah, that was a mental image he didn't need.'**

"My mind!" Travis said, clutching his head. "It's been violated!"

"My innocence is gone!" Connor wailed.

"When were you ever innocent?" Katie asked.

The boys stopped their dramatic act and turned to face Katie in creepy unison.

"Touche," They said in tandem, which only made it creepier.

 **'He shuddered, and proceeded to drop Buddfetta's right leg. He dropped to the ground and crawled under his workbench, absentmindedly humming the theme song for Star wars, yeah it was made years ago- but it was such a good story line! So much better than Star Trek.'**

Chris grumbled.

' **He got up, not bothered by the dust all down his legs, and placed the part back on the table- freezing as he heard the clatter of a dropped weapon come from the end of the bunker. What the Hades?**

 **Then he started, had he left the door in his room open? Darn it, what if his siblings had followed him and spotted Shelob!**

 **Leo raced up the bunker and stopped just in time to see Nyssa lob her knife at Shelob, who managed to twist away just in time. Leo grabbed the knife and managed to jump in front of Shelob just in time to block Beckendorf's blow that would have cut her head right off. Shelob cowered behind Leo, shivering and tapping frantically. Leo mentally translated her Morse code.**

 **"Stop, please, don't hurt me, please!"**

 **Leo sighed, and ignoring Beckendorf's baffled look, reached a hand behind him to rest on Shelob's shaking head. "It's ok Shelob; I promise I won't let you get hurt."**

 **Leo waited until her tremors had stopped before he dropped his hand from her head, and turned to face his siblings. All five of them were looking at him as if he was mad. He was, slightly, but that was a different matter.**

 **"Ok guys, I know this might be hard to believe, but Shelob isn't going to hurt you. She was hidden in the tunnels by Hephaestus kids in the 1800's and she's been down here guarding the armoury since. When I found the armoury, I asked her if there was an underground forge anywhere, and she brought me here. I swear, she won't hurt you."**

 **Beckendorf stepped forward raising his sword, "It's a monster Leo, and it's tricking you."**

 **"She, Is my friend, and she has already sworn on the Styx she mean's no harm to anyone. Except those who attack Hephaestus's children. She was a gift from dad, to the Hephaestus kids in the past, and she's still only going to protect us. Please, don't hurt her."**

 **"Leo" He turned to Nyssa, who had spoken, "How could the spider possibly have sworn on the Styx- It's a spider!"**

 **"Who speaks in Morse code?" Leo turned shocked eyes on Shane, who had spoken, and his gaze was matched by Beckendorf and Nyssa. Jake and Chris just looked baffled. "How did you know that?" Leo asked.**

 **"My step-dad teaches me Morse code, he's in the army. I could hear her, asking us not to kill her. Is she really a good monster?"**

 **Leo was delighted; He had no idea that Shane knew Morse code. "You bet, in fact, I swear on the Styx she's good." Leo raised challenging eyes to Beckendorf as it became obvious he wasn't going to self-combust,'**

"What does happen when you break an oath on the Styx? For demigods, I mean?" Percy asked. "Do you get crushed by a rock? Self combust? Bad luck for the rest of your life? Die on the spot?"

Everyone looked at the gods.

"Actually," Zeus said, slowly. "I don't know what would happen to a demigod... Athena?"

"I hate to say it, but I don't know. It hasn't happened in so long."

"Owl Face doesn't know something!" Poseidon laughed.

"Shut it, Poseidon!"

"Not again," Hades groaned.

"Stupid rivalry," Artemis mumbled.

"You two just need to hug this out!" Percy yelled, and everyone in the room turned to stare at him.

"That might work," Apollo said.

"No!" Poseidon and Athena yelled, which was the first thing they'd agreed on in centuries.

Apollo shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

' **and Beckendorf had the good grace to look ashamed, though he still looked horrified when Shane rushed passed him, and awkwardly hugged Shelob' s front legs.**

 **Leo couldn't stop laughing at Beckendorf's face as Shelob pranced around the bunker, Shane giggling hysterically on her back.'**

"It was hilarious," Jake told his oldest brother, who rolled his eyes.

A moment of silence.

"It really was," Shane finally chirped.

Beckendorf huffed as his siblings laughed.

"I'll read next!" A young Athena child named Ciara volunteered.

* * *

 _What was your favorite part? Personally, my favorite was when Percy yelled, "You two just need to hug this out!" I got that idea from Lab Rats when Leo Dooley tells his step-dad, "You and your brother just need to hug this out!" When the man's brother tries to kill them for the umpteenth time._

 _Once again, sorry for the late update. Make sure to review!_


	6. You Lost The Hephaestus Cabin?

_Hello! I'm back. Also, this story does not have a specific updating schedule, so I'll just kind of pop out of nowhere (I will still try to update regularly, though). Sorry there hasn't been much activity on my page this past week, but I have been dead tired and my birthday's coming up (I'll be fifteen), so I've got that going on._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

"In which camp has gone mad," Ciara read.

 **'The Hephaestus cabin were in awe of bunker nine, and Leo tried not to laugh as all five of his siblings acted like five year-olds who had just been shown a house made entirely of candy. Shane could be forgiven, but when Beckendorf actually squealed over the machinery...'**

Beckendorf blushed.

"Did you really do that?" Clarrise snorted.

"Uh, maybe... Chris giggles!"

Chris's eyes widened. "Jake screams like a little girl!"

"I do n-"

"Take Percy's advice: hug this out!" Leo shouted.

His brothers turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Christina Perri," Beckendorf stated.

"Megan Trainor," Chris said.

"This girl is on fire," Jake said.

Leo blinked. "All right... but none of those things are girly. Just because their songs are a bit on the feminine side doesn't mean a guy can't listen to them."

"Thank you!" Percy exclaimed, high fiving Leo.

"When did you learn the word feminine?" Nyssa muttered before Ciara continued to read.

' **Well, Leo could be excused for rolling on the floor laughing. Anyone in his position would be.**

 **Jake had already claimed a bench as 'his' and had started assembling something based on a blueprint he had found in one of the draws. Leo thought it might be the blueprint of the mini-bombs that the Hephaestus cabin had made in bulk during the war with Gaia. While they were freaking complicated to make, being the size of a marble; Leo had memorised the method. A getaway bomb was always handy. He could make one in a minute, with his hands tied behind his back- and unfortunately, that had been proven.'**

"Impressive," Clarrise muttered.

Everyone, including the gods, spun to face her.

"Did you just compliment him?" Annabeth asked.

"So what if I did, princess?" She sneered. "Besides, don't act so surprised: I'm impressed by anything that involves violence or explosives."

"That's my girl," Ares said, tossing a knife at the ceiling.

 **'Leo grinned at his family running all around the bunker, and the exclamations they were making.**

 **"Holy Hephaestus! You have got to see this!"**

 **Everyone turned to look at Chris, who had stuck his head though the padlocked door he had been working on opening for the past ten minutes, "I'm dreaming... No, I've died, and am now in Elysium. This is..."**

 **Leo grinned, and watched as the others crowded round Chris to peer through the door too. Chris had found the H.C.E, short for Hephaestus camper's Elysium. It was a long warehouse shaped cave, full to the brim with Celestial bronze, jewels, rare parts, cogs, and everything anyone would need to make anything. Right now it looked like his siblings were all about to faint. Then there was a mad rush, as everyone claimed a bench and a blueprint from the stacks in the draws and along the sides, and settled down to make whatever it was that had caught their fancy- lack of materials no longer an issue.**

 **Leo laughed at his siblings again, then returned to his bench, and resumed building Buddfetta. It was going to be a long project he knew- especially as he was planning to make her sentient. Right now he was just assembling the parts he would need to make her. Before he even started constructing her. He would need to take time on each piece. He was not going to rush her. She would be perfect!'**

"Why don't you make yourself the perfect girlfriend?" An Aphrodite girl asked.

Leo blinked.

"Don't give him any ideas!" Percy yelped.

"Too late," Leo laughed as he began to form a mental picture.

 **'Leo placed all the cogs needed on the table, then frowned as he caught one that was rolling of. Before he could even begin, he would need to make a stable box of some sort to store all the components. It would be just like him to get to the last stage and realise he didn't have the last screw, and then it would all fall apart.'**

"And I thought I was a perfectionist," Annabeth murmured.

"I know," Percy whispered, staring at Leo.

 **'That was the secret. Buford looked like an ordinary table, but he was in fact made of almost complete metal, with a wood coating, and Buford had been so mad when he realised Leo knew he wasn't completely wood, it had almost caused a massive disaster, but luckily Buford had calmed down enough for Leo to explain that he liked him just as much, even if he wasn't all wood, and this way meant that if He got burnt, he could be fixed, and wouldn't burn completely to ash. Strangely Buford like the- not burning completely to ash option- and the crisis was averted. Man, Buford was one touchy table.'**

Leo nodded. "That is entirely true. Remind me to tell you the story about the time the bunker and the surrounding woods nearly got blown up because I polished him with Windex."

Nyssa blinked. "I have a feeling we don't want to know."

"Oh, yes, we do want to know," Travis chuckled.

"Don't get any ideas," Katie ordered.

"Too late," Connor told her.

 **'Leo looked up from the blueprint that he realised he had been staring at, when he felt a touch on his shoulder. He looked to the left, and saw Nyssa standing beside him a frown on her face.**

 **"Leo, next time you decide to go exploring, warn us first. There could be all sorts of monsters in the tunnels, and though we know that Shelob is friendly, the others probably won't be. I was so worried Leo, seriously, don't do it again."**

 **Leo grinned, "I can look after myself Nyssa; you don't need to worry. I survived the streets of America, and believe me- they are swarming with monsters. I can handle myself, I promise."'**

"What?" The Stoll brothers demanded.

"What?!" Percy agreed, although louder.

"WHAT?!" Beckendorf screamed.

 **'Strangely enough, that didn't seem to relax Nyssa, she just looked even more worried. "How long were you on the streets for?"**

 **Leo froze, why was he slipping so much? Seriously, he shouldn't have said that, Nyssa wasn't going to let it go now. He remembered the conversation he had with future Nyssa about the same topic. That had been really bad, ending with her treating him like he was an invalid, so what if he had gotten on the wrong side of a few gangs.'**

"What?" Hephaestus asked. "I don't remember seeing that."

"I do," Hestia murmured, sadly. "And none of that was your fault."

Leo shrugged. "It wasn't that bad, except for Blake and Cruella. They were a nightmare straight out of Tarturas."

Strangely, that didn't seem to relax anyone.

 **'The scars on his back didn't mean anything, he got over it.'**

A growl sounded. The most frightening part? It came from Connor and Travis. No one had seem them so angry; no one had even seen them frown in the four and a half years they'd been at camp.

 **'But he sure as Hades wasn't going to discuss it with this Nyssa; he was pretty sure that four years wouldn't change that much.'**

"Oh, it changes everything," Nyssa said, "and I don't care what you say: we're talking about this later."

' **"It doesn't matter Nyssa. It was only a couple of months, and nothing bad happened. I was a bit cold, and a bit hungry, but I'm a boy, we're always hungry. So, could you... Just leave it yeah?"**

 **Nyssa looked doubtful, but dropped the subject and made to move back to her bench, then stopped, turned round and grabbed Leo in a hug. Rushing back to her bench with a smile on her face at his bewildered expression.**

 **The work in the bunker went on for hours and hours, no-one worrying about the time at all, at least not till Shane started snoring over his half-finished quiver of arrows. Leo looked up and met Beckendorf's eye. "How long have we been here?"**

 **Beckendorf gave a shrug, and Nyssa gasped, and joined the conversation. "Our entire cabin is missing, Chiron's gonna be worried."'**

"Thank you for _finally_ realizing that," Chiron muttered.

"Was that a teenager-like attitude?" Travis whispered to his brother.

Connor nodded. "We have heard some weird things, but that definitely makes the top ten."

Travis nodded.

 **'Jake dropped his hammer on his foot and cursed, then hobbled over to where the others were discussing, passing by Chris and Shane's snoring bodies. "No-one but us know about the descending beds right? If someone who isn't a child of Hephaestus tries to lower a bed, what happens?"**

 **"The cabin goes into lockdown and all of the beds refuse to budge, until the all clear button is pressed." They all looked to Beckendorf in surprise, and he shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "I installed a security system when the Stolls came to camp, so what?"'**

"I don't know whether to feel complimented or offended," Travis admitted.

"Settle for both," Percy advised.

 **'Leo cleared his throat, "So, what do we do, we can't lug these guys back through the tunnels, and Shane won't like being woken up. I vote we all sleep here tonight and walk back in the morning, it's like a three hour trip, if you run all the way, and none of us want to run now."**

 **"Right, but Chiron's probably going to contact Olympus first thing tomorrow, if he hasn't already, so we need to let him know what's going on."**

 **"Sure Nyssa," Jake added, "little problem of how."**

 **Nyssa snarled at him, and Leo grinned- there was the sleep deprived Nyssa that all those working on the Argo two had come to know and fear. "Oh I don't know Jake, a little thing called an Iris message... Ring any bells?"**

 **"Ok, ok, I'm an idiot, no need to get nasty."'**

"Oh, it was necessary," Leo said, "for my entertainment. The look on your face was hilarious."

 **'Beckendorf brought a spray gun out of one pocket, and a drachma out of the other one. He turned on the spray gun, and flipped the coin into the spray. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please show me Chiron at camp-half blood."**

"There's a change in point of view," Ciara announced. "It's Percy's point of view now."

 **'Percy hadn't been that worried when the Hephaestus cabin had run through camp like they had hellhounds on their trail, Leo had probably just set his bed on fire or something- seems like a thing Leo would do.'**

"Been there," Leo said. When everyone stared at him, he added, "Don't ask."

 **'But when no-one from the Hephaestus cabin turned up at dinner, or at the campfire, something was clearly going on. Hades, even Chiron looked worried, and that didn't happen often. After the campfire, he stood up and said that the Hephaestus campers were neither in their cabin, not the forge, nor anywhere else at camp, and if anyone knew where they were, would they please speak now.**

 **There was an unnatural silence, and you could hear crickets chirping, well you couldn't, but Percy was sure that, had there been crickets there, then it would have been possible to hear them chirping. Then the campfire rose up higher, and a figure walked out from it. Chiron bowed immediately, so the rest of camp, Ares cabin included, much to Percy's surprise, followed his example.**

 **"Lady Hestia, may I ask why you have deigned to visit camp?"**

 **The lady smiled, and looked around the campers, her eyes warm and friendly, "There is no need to bow my friends, I am not here to be worshiped, but to bring news. You asked of those, Hephaestus's children. I assure you they are quite safe, though they will not be back till sometime tomorrow. They have merely..."**

 **The goddess was cut off by an Iris message forming by the fire, a fait voice, Leo's voice, echoed from it, as the vision cleared.**

 **"Dude, why do you even have a spray gun in your pocket? What if it leaks?"'**

Travis and Connor frowned and pulled spray guns out of their jacket pockets.

"Who doesn't carry a spray gun in their pocket?" They asked in tandem.

Leo blinked. "Maybe I should start."

"They gave him an idea," Annabeth muttered. "Daily water fights, here we come," she added, sarcastically.

 **'The message showed Beckendorf, Nyssa, Leo, and that other kid... Jake, they all looked pretty tired, and Chris could been seen in the background, slumped against a workbench and out of it completely. Beckendorf grinned at Chiron, then seemed to notice the lady standing beside him, and hastily bowed, followed by the rest of his siblings, at least the awake ones. He almost stuck his head through the Iris message, and the camp began to snicker at his blush when he came back up.**

 **"Um, I hope we didn't worry you, but someone," Beckendorf gave a small glare at Leo, who Pfffed and shrugged it off, Beckendorf rolled his eyes, shocking half the crowd who had never seen Beckendorf do something like that, and continued. "Someone, decided that it would be a good idea to explore the tunnels underneath the Hephaestus cabin, and since that someone, is new, the rest of us were afraid there would be a load of monsters in the unexplored tunnels, and rushed after him."**

 **Leo broke in, "Anyway, getting to the actual important bit, I found this awesome underground forge, called bunker 9, and cus it's so awesome, we kinda lost track of time, so, um, yeah. We're calling so you don't start a search party for us or anything, and we should be back sometime tomorrow." Leo rubbed his neck, as he did when he was embarrassed, and Percy grinned, unconsciously matching Hestia's expression as she popped away. Leo spun around as Chris slipped of his bench and crashed to the floor, and his flailing arm cut through the iris message.'**

"Who wants to read next?" Ciara questioned.

Travis took the book.

"You can read?" Katie asked.

"I am offended!" Travis said. "Just because Connor and I didn't see the inside of a classroom after eight doesn't mean we didn't learn how to read," he snapped, surprising the camp at how offended he actually sounded, and it didn't sound like he was joking.

He sighed and turned back to the book.

"Chapter seven: in which Leo has a couple of conversations."

* * *

 _The reason behind Travis's anger at the end will be revealed later. Since people hardly give Travis and Connor background stories (they're usually just included in the story for humor), I decided I would give them so background later in the story (probably around the next break time they have)._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	7. Conversations

_Here's chapter 7! I feel kind of bad because I've had this written for a long time, and I forgot to post it. Whoops... sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

"In which Leo has a couple of conversations," Travis read.

' **After Chris accidently cut through the Iris message, and face planted the floor, waking up in the process, the awake members of the cabin put away their projects, and proceeded to drag some stuffing out of the store cupboard. Beckendorf yanked it into six, and gave one to each of those awake. While Jake dragged his over to the storage door, and proceeded to announce he was guarding it, Leo dragged one of the piles over to Shane, and carefully lifted him of his bench, and onto the make-shift bed; all the while careful not to wake him. When he turned around he saw Nyssa watching him with a soft smile on her face, and Beckendorf with an almost proud look.'**

"It was cute," Jake announced. "You're a good brother."

Leo blushed. "Thanks."

' **Leo flushed and immediately flopped down on his own pile of stuffing, curling up in the warmth. Before he knew it, morning had come.**

 **Leo woke to shuffling beside him, and saw Shane sitting up on his bed, a frown on his face as he saw the rest of his siblings asleep. Leo propped himself up on one arm and turned to look at his little brother. His voice came out raspy when he spoke, and it make Shane jump.**

 **"What's up Shane?"**

 **"I need the toilet."**

 **Leo grinned sleepily, It's to the right at the other end of the bunker, there's about four down there, and they all work, just go ahead." Leo flopped down again, and tried to get back to sleep. Impossibly, as Shane was now poking him. Leo rolled over and frowned at him "What's wrong?"**

 **Shane glanced to the other end of the bunker, trying to conceal the fear on his face. It didn't fool Leo; he was a master at masks and hiding his feelings.'**

In a creepy unison, every person in the group turned to face Leo with worried expressions and raised eyebrows.

Leo's only response was to sink down low in his seat.

' **"Leo, it's kinda dark down there and..."**

 **Leo shrugged of the twinge of annoyance he felt.'**

Shane pouted. "I'm sorry, Leo."

Leo smiled and ruffled Shane's hair. "It's cool, Shane. I shouldn't have gotten annoyed in the first place."

 **'Shane was only eight, it was perfectly fine for him to be scared of the dark, and Leo couldn't judge him on it. He had been afraid of the dark when he was smaller, but he had to force himself to get over it. It was impossible to remain afraid of the darks on the streets. There were too many things worse than the dark.'**

"Like what?" Shane asked, curiously.

"Yeah, Leo, like what?" Nyssa asked, more seriously than young, clueless Shane.

Leo blinked before shrugging and looking down at Shane. "Bunnies. Lots of bunnies. I can't stand them."

Shane giggled and turned back to the reader, although Nyssa kept her gaze fixed on an uncomfortable Leo.

 **'Leo unwound himself from the nest he had created in his sleep, and stood up, smiling at Shane. "Well, since I need the toilet too..."**

 **Shane matched his grin, and Leo lead the way to the toilets, squeezing the hand that ended up grasping his own.**

 **When they returned from the toilets, Shane went right back to sleep, but Leo couldn't. After ten minutes of tossing around, he got back up, and made his way over to Shelob's web, wondering if the giant spider was asleep. As he approached he saw eight glowing eyes peering out from the darkness, and he sighed in relief,'**

"Relief, bro?" Percy asked. "I'm not afraid of spiders, but I would've started swinging if I saw that in the dark."

' **dropping to sit on the floor in front of Shelob's web.**

 **"Hey Shelob, I didn't wake you did I?"**

 **"No master Leo, I am generally a nocturnal creature, so I do not sleep much during the night,"**

 **"Oh, I knew that. So, what do you think of my siblings?"**

 **"The older ones seem wary of me, though I can't say I blame them. I am grateful master Leo, that you prevented them from sending me to Tartarus."**

 **"Tartarus isn't a nice place, I'm not letting any of my friends end up there, giant spider or no."**

 **Shelob sent him what looked like an admiring look, and then continued. "But the younger one, Shane, he is amusing. I rather enjoy spending time with him."**

 **I'm glad Shelob, truly, because, I've been told I've got a pretty big destiny, and I don't want my siblings banishing you if I die.'**

"Leo!" Leo's friends, siblings, and father yelled as that statement sent them into panic mode.

 **'I'm glad Shane will be around to look after you if... Something happens." Leo wasn't joking when he said this. Chaos had told him to save people, and stop the war, and he planned on it. If it took his life to stop Gaia, he would gladly give it, and he was beginning to suspect that it would. If he was changing everything, then the war would not end with him as the only survivor, but the only casualty.'**

Beckendorf gave a sound like a cat being trampled on, and Leo reached over to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. Leo cried out when Beckendorf yanked him into a tight embrace.

"Beckendorf, this hug is nice and all, but I kind of can't breathe."

Beckendorf pulled away, but he kept his hand on Leo's arm, as though afraid Leo may disappear if he let go.

' **"One day Shelob, I'm going to have to introduce you to my friends Percy Annabeth and Grover. On second thoughts, just Percy, Grover's a bit of a scaredy cat, and Annabeth, well..."**

 **"Is something wrong with this Annabeth master Leo?"**

 **"She's a daughter of Athena."**

 **"There is something wrong with this Annabeth then, master Leo".'**

"There's something wrong with _me?_ You're the one talking to a spider three times the size of you. Normal people would consider you insane," Annabeth pointed out.

Leo shrugged. "Normal people already consider me insane, and Shelob is _five_ times the size of me, for your information."

 **"Oh, that's _so_ much better," Annabeth muttered, sarcastically.**

 **'Leo laughed at that, but couldn't help picturing the scene in his head. He'd introduce Shelob to Annabeth, and she'd probably start screaming. Then Percy would appear to see why she was screaming, see it was just Shelob, and tell Annabeth she was over-reacting. To which Annabeth would calmly reply, that no, she was not over-reacting, because there was a freaking giant spider in the middle of camp! He might have to do it just for the amusement value, and pay the Stolls to video it or something.'**

"Don't you dare," Annabeth snapped.

Leo nodded. "Of course not."

"Swear it on the Styx."

"I swear on the River Styx that I will not use Shelob to prank Annabeth."

Annabeth relaxed in her chair while Leo leaned across his seat to whisper to Travis and Connor.

"I swore. You two didn't."

Connor got teary eyed. "He found a fantastic loophole. I'm so proud."

 **'Leo was brought out of his musings by a large hairy head snuggling up to his. He grinned, and rubbed under Shelob's chin, to which she gave a sort of creepy purr. Leo laughed aloud at that, and continued chatting with Shelob until the others woke.**

 **When the other five were up and ready, the six headed back through the tunnels, following the wool trail that Leo had left the day before. They left Shelob in the bunker though, figuring it wouldn't be wise to take her into camp. Especially since the Athena cabin all hated spiders with a passion.**

 **As they followed the trail, Leo behind the others, making sure none of them turned the wrong way, Beckendorf dropped back to walk beside him.**

 **"You alright Leo?"**

 **Leo glanced over, surprised, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"**

 **Beckendorf smiled. "I saw you with Shane last night, and this morning, you really like him don't you?"**

 **Leo mentally grimaced, that was what this conversation was about then. "He's my little brother, of course I'm gonna look after him." Leo gave a little glare, "Is there a problem with that?"**

 **"No Leo, gods no. I'm really glad that you're settling in alright. After you're nightmare, I was kinda afraid you'd close off. Just stop... Being so friendly."**

 **"Believe me Beckendorf, by the end of the week, you'll wish I had."'**

Beckendorf groaned, and Leo chuckled.

"This is two days later," Travis announced before continuing to read.

' **"Man, I wish he'd just stop being so friendly!"**

 **Nyssa looked up from her bed with a snort as Beckendorf entered the cabin. "What did Leo do this time?" Then she took another look, "What happened to you?"**

 **"Leo happened. Somehow he became such good friend with the Pegasi that he managed to talk them into doing laps of camp and gave a reward to the Pegasus who hit the most campers with dung!"'**

The Stoll twins burst out laughing, and Percy and Leo joined them.

 **'Nyssa looked at him shocked for a minute, then burst out laughing. "So that's why you look like... Hahaha"**

 **Beckendorf looked disgruntled, "I'm going to have a shower, if Leo comes in, tell him to start running, or I'll drag him to Clarisse and explain to her whose fault it is her hair is now brown and reeks!"**

 **Not two minutes later, Leo poked his head round the door; he scanned the room, and grinned, waltzing in. Nyssa again looked up from the mass of wires she was trying to unravel. "I would suggest running Leo, Beckendorf threatened to turn you over to Clarisse."**

 **The smile dropped of his face. "That bad?"**

 **"Worse."**

 **"Oh, now might be the best time to practice hiding in plain sight. See you at dinner?" Leo raced back out the cabin, and dived behind a bush, scanning the area. Where could he hide that no-one would notice him? The campfire! No-one ever really paid it much attention, so it was the perfect place.'**

Hestia smiled, softly, in realization.

 **'Leo made a mad dash across the grass, and dropped so close to the flames that if he was anyone else, he'd have gotten burned by the heat. Problem was, there was already someone there.**

 **Leo backed up fast, "Sorry, I didn't mean to get in the way, I'll just go sit at the other side, ummm..." Leo looked back at the camper, who didn't actually look that much like a camper. In fact, she didn't look like a camper at all. "Sorry, who are you?"**

 **The girl turned to face him, smiling warmly, and a tension he didn't know he had, relaxed. She made him feel safe, at home, things he hadn't truly felt since his mom's death. "My name, Leo Valdez, is Hestia."**

 **Leo scrambled to bow, "My lady, I apologise for the disrespect..."He was cut off by a tinkering giggle, and looked up to see it was Hestia's.**

 **"There's no need to apologise Leo, I don't mind. Please, call me Hestia."**

 **"If you insist my... Hestia"**

 **"Your Hestia?"**

 **Leo blushed as red as the flames behind him,'**

"Ha, ha," Travis teased.

Leo stared at Travis and lit his finger on fire.

"Whoops," he said, flatly, as he flicked the fire off his finger and hit the wall next to Travis's head. Unbeknownst to Travis, Leo's aim was very good, so he wouldn't have actually hit Travis, but since the said boy didn't know that, he tipped his chair back to get out of the way. This resulted in him falling to the floor and glaring up at Leo while everyone else laughed.

' **and stuttered, "I didn't mean it like that, I..."**

 **The tinkering laugh sounded again, and Hestia grinned at him mischievously. She looked a lot like the Stolls when she did that. "I was just joking Leo, I think I'm a little old for you."**

 **Leo grinned, two could play at that game. He made a point of looking at the childlike body she was in, around eight years old. "I don't know, I think you might be a little young. I could set you up with my little brother Shane, if you like."**

 **Hestia was still laughing when the shell sounded for dinner, but as Leo rose to leave, she looked sad again. Leo frowned, "are you alright lady... um Hestia?"**

 **"Oh, I'm fine; this was just one of the most exciting conversations I've had in a while. Not many people notice me you see."**

 **Leo frowned, he knew how it felt to be not noticed, "Well, if you want to talk tomorrow, I'll be here after lunch, reaping my well earned benefit of free time after winning capture the flag. I'm sure we can schedule an appointment."**

 **Hestia nodded and sent him a grateful smile, waving as he walked off to dinner, and he heard her giggling when he had to run to avoid a dozen angry campers. How was it his fault if the Pegasi suddenly developed a bowel problem?'**

"Who wants to read next?" Travis asked.

"I will," Aphrodite called, making everyone jump. The gods had been so quiet, the demigods had forgotten they were there. Judging by their expressions, they'd had a few conversations while the demigods were distracted, but no one, not even Percy, was daring enough to tread on such sensitive ground. Therefore, Travis handed over the book and everyone sat back like they didn't notice anything.

"Chapter eight: in which Leo makes a decision."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! There will be a break after chapter 10, where characters discuss Leo's past, maybe a little of Travis and Connor's back story, and such. That chapter will also feature Lou Ellen, Reyna, Connor, and Echo, the Futures, since they haven't really been apart of the story. That's because they're traumatized by the war and are so caught up in fighting off flashbacks and their instinct to fight after so long since having a moment of peace that they aren't participating very much. They will eventually start to open up, though._

 _Bye!_


	8. Good Deeds And Decisions

_This doesn't have as much commentary as usual because the majority of it is Leo fixing something and the steps he was preforming. It's a good scene, but not much to comment on._

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **The summer went way too quickly for Leo's liking, and before he knew it, there was a form by the side of his bed, asking whether or not he was staying all year round. Leo frowned at the form, a facial expression he rarely wore. It should have been an easy choice, everything he had was at camp- but he couldn't help but think that he'd go crazy here. Well crazier. He loved camp and all, but he had always run when he stayed there too long, Yancy a perfect example. He didn't want to run from camp, and he loved his family to bits, but... He couldn't cope with them all the time. The summer had been wonderful, but he felt kinda like they were smothering him since his nightmare, and he needed space. Like, outside camp space.'**

Connor sighed. That feeling was so familiar to him...

His and Travis's mother was abusive. When they were eight, they ran away and didn't look back. A satyr- Grover, actually- found them two weeks before their ninth birthday (I made Travis and Connor twins because it was easier than constantly dealing with age differences and whatnot) and took them to camp. If it hadn't been for Luke, they would've run away many times before they finally began to call camp home. He knew the feeling, the need to run. He knew it all too well.

Travis squeezed his hand, as though reading his thoughts.

 **'Leo sighed at the form, ignoring the enquiring look sent his way by Shane. He slipped outside; maybe if he walked around a little, he could clear his head. He came across Clarisse, sharpening her new spear by the campfire, a campfire, which was, for once, void of Hestia. He didn't know how many conversations with her it had taken to get him to drop the lady, but he called her Hestia now no problem. Maybe it was around the time he stopped seeing her as a goddess, and began to see her as a friend.'**

Hestia smiled.

 **'He dropped down next to Clarisse anyway, paying no mind to her suspicious look, and sighed again. Clarisse spoke, making him jump. "I ain't an agony aunt Valdez, if you're going to complain, shut your mouth, or I'll run you through."**

 **Leo eyed her spear, "Not complaining. No complaining here, none at all. No reason to run me through..."**

 **"There will be if you don't shut your mouth."**

 **Leo shut his mouth. He pulled some wires out of his belt, and began to build something, not really noticing what he was doing as he stared absentmindedly across camp. He'd miss it if he went, sure, and wouldn't he be more use at camp, than in the mortal world. He was still trying to limit causalities in the Titan war, and surely staying at camp to try and convince people not to join the Titans was a good start. Chaos had said it was his choice though, so what was he to do? He kinda wanted to leave camp, but he wanted to stay as well.**

 **His train of thought was interrupted by Clarisse's rough voice. "What you making Punk?" Leo glanced down at his hands in surprise, he had barely registered that he was making something at all. It looked kinda like a weapons stand. The type that Jason had used in his room on the Argo two, to hold up his pilum. If he just added a couple of foldable legs...**

 **He dug into his belt, and withdrew three foldable legs that he remembered putting in there earlier. He had been trying to see what type of leg would suit Buddfetta, and came to the conclusion that foldable ones were defiantly not right. He kept them though, because hey, they could come in handy.**

 **He attached them to the body of the stand with practiced ease, and then realised he had failed to respond to Clarisse's question. "It's a spear holder, I think." He folded the legs up into the stand, and offered it to Clarisse, "Do you want to try it out?"'**

Clarrise blinked in surprise at the fact that Leo Valdez was having a casual conversation with her. Most campers were too afraid to _approach_ her, much less _speak_ to her. Even her siblings limited contact with her.

And who's fault is that? The voice in the back of her head- her conscious, ugh- whispered.

 **She took it, glancing sideways at his face, to see if he was tricking her. When she put it hesitantly around her spear, and it didn't destroy the thing, she looked more surprised. Leo frowned at that. Was she so used to people pranking her that she had come to be suspicious of even the tiniest thing?**

"Don't even think about pitying me, punk," Clarisse hissed.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't dream of it. I hate pity, too, you know."

Clarissa looked somewhat surprised at his response, but then she realized… she really shouldn't be surprised.

 **Clarisse removed the stand from around the spear, and folded it back up. She passed it back to Leo, with a brief, "It works."**

 **Leo sniffed, "Of course it works. I made it." He was a bit put down by the lack of reaction, but he pushed the stand back toward her, "Keep it, it's not like I have a spear I can use it for." Leo stood up, and began to walk to the forge, maybe making something would take his mind off whether to stay at camp or go back to the mortal world.**

 **He was somewhat shocked when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Clarisse fall into step beside him, grunting "Thanks" so low that Leo almost didn't hear it.'**

"You got a _thanks_ out of Clarisse?" Percy gasped.

Clarisse growled at him, and Percy trailed off.

"Good job," he said, meekly, before turning back to the book.

"That's what I thought," Clarrisse muttered.

 **It made him smile though, he wondered if she had ever thanked anyone before. Or if she ever had reason to.**

 **He turned to her, an idea forming in his head, and voiced a question that had been bothering him for a while. "Why do you hate Percy?"**

 **Clarisse stopped with a snarl on her face. "Because that little worm broke Maimer! And embarrassed me in front of everyone." Leo figured it would be that Percy broke her spear, and, well, Percy had a habit of embarrassing everyone. What he didn't get was why the spear mattered. Sure it had been hers, but it was just a spear. Weapons got broken all the time.**

 **Clarisse seemed to read his face, and he didn't think she was that observant, but she answered his question anyway. "That spear was the only thing my dad ever got me." Leo knew that feeling. He knew it too well.'**

The gods shifted uneasily in their thrones, trying to hide their guilty consciences from the demigods.

 **"Hey Clarisse, you still got the pieces?" His idea had grown. He knew that because Clarisse and the Ares cabin refused to fight in the first part of the battle of Manhattan, quite a few demi-gods had died. He also knew that one of the main reasons she refused to fight was that the Ares cabin had developed an us vs. them mentality. If he could show Clarisse that not everyone hated the Ares cabin, then she might not refuse to fight.**

"Smart," Athena admitted. This time, no one was really surprised. She'd complimented Leo plenty of times on his cleverness and intelligence, and honestly, he deserved the compliments.

Clarisse glared at him, daring him to mock her, "Yeah, so what?"

 **"I've got free time, if you want me to try and fix it. I could probably add more abilities that just electric as well. If you want." Leo glanced to his right, and saw Clarisse looking incredulously at him.**

 **"You... What do you want in return?"**

 **"For you to stop hating my best friend. By that I mean Percy."**

 **"That's it?"**

 **"Would you like me to add more conditions?"**

 **Clarisse turned and made for the Ares cabin, at quite a speed, and Leo shouted after her, "Meet me in the forge!" After saying that, Leo rushed ahead to the forge, and grabbed the supply of Chaotic silver he had removed from the hidden area of Bunker nine. If he could fix Clarisse's spear with Chaotic silver, then he could make sure it would never break! That way she wouldn't be caught off guard when the replacement giant for Damasen swung his club at her and Piper.**

 **By the time he had gotten the metal onto his bench and laid out the tools he thought he would need, Clarisse had arrived with her snapped spear. She handed it to Leo, who placed it onto the bench, and inspected the snapped wood. By the look of things, it had been a pretty clean break, so it wouldn't need much Chaotic Silver. If he could wind the Silver around the shaft of the spear, then infuse the Celestial bronze tip with Chaotic silver...**

 **Leo picked up the block of Silver and plunged both it and his hands into the fire, ignoring Clarisse's shout, she had trusted him with his emotions, even if she hadn't realized she had yet. He figured that she knew enough about being an outcast to keep his secret. He glanced up at her, in the middle of shaping the block into a spear shaft to wind around the existing one, and she nodded, agreeing to his unspoken plea to keep it secret.**

 **"Would you rather I fix the wooden shaft, or make a new shaft, with the same Celestial bronze tip?"**

 **Clarisse glanced at the broken shaft, and nodded to Leo, "New shaft."**

 **"Preference's on color?"**

 **"You can do different colors?"**

 **Leo grinned up at her, "Little know fact of the forge, if you add chemicals to the flames you forge in, depending on the chemical, the metal you're forging will end up with a hint of that color. So any preference?"**

 **"Red."**

 **Leo sighed. "Of course. Why would I think any different."**

 **"Something against red punk?"**

 **Leo sighed, and removed the shaft from the fire, to hammer it more into shape. He crossed the forge to get the Lithium powder. He threw a handful in the fire, ignoring Clarisse's reaction to the crimson flame. While the flame was still high, he grabbed the shaft of the spear, in flaming hands, and plunged it back into the fire, watching as the flames licked around it.**

 **After five minutes of this, he removed the shaft for the last time, and let it cool. He then turned to the spearhead, and examined it, he could sense the wiring hidden within the tip, the wiring would produce the electric charge. As long as he left the tip alone, he could fuse the shaft and tip together no problem.**

 **He set about doing just that, and little more than ten minutes later plunged the cooling spear into a trough of water, releasing clouds of steam into the workshop. As he watched the spear cool, he began to sing, a habit he had developed on the Argo two. Thinking back to the problem at hand, and forgetting that Clarisse was in the room, he sang. "Should I stay, or should I go?"**

 **His song was interrupted by Clarisse, who was staring at the cooling crimson spear, with what looked like hunger on her face. "Is it done then?"**

 **Leo snapped out of his mood, and replied. "Kind-of, I need to test the balance though. I tried to make it as much like the wooden shaft as possible, but it's a different metal, so you will have to test it, and tell me if it feels off. Leo plunged his hand into the now warm water, and removed the cool spear, handing it to Clarisse, who swung it round, her eyes closed, then frowned, as the spear tip angled a little toward the ground.**

 **"Add weight to the back, it's unbalanced."**

 **"Sure." Leo grabbed a disk of Chaotic silver, and added it to the base of the spear, heating his hand to a really high temperature, and melting the disk onto the end, then plunging it back into the water to cool, releasing only a little steam.**

 **Leo handed the spear back to Clarisse, who swung it with a smile on her face, then opened her eyes again, and gave him a grin and a sincere, "Thanks Valdez. And about your dilemma. Just think this over. If you stay, you'll be one of the campers who I can challenge with my new spear..." With that Clarisse walked out of the forge, a scary grin on her face, and an upgraded spear clenched in her fist.'**

"Well, that makes your decision easier," Grover muttered, and Leo nodded in agreement.

 **Leo replaced the rest of the silver, and cleared his bench, sticking some scraps in his belt. He rushed back to cabin 9. If Clarisse was going to be swinging that spear all year, then he was defiantly heading for the mortal world.**

"Thanks."

Everyone's heads jerked up to stare at Ares.

"For fixing her spear," he added.

No one turned away.

"I'm not gonna say it again," he said before turning back to sharpening his knives.

"Keep reading," Grover muttered, "before the universe implodes."

A child of Hermes (what was his name? Leo wondered. Jeremy, maybe?) took the book and began reading.

* * *

 _Until next time! Thanks for reading! Goodbye, everyone!_


	9. Poison, Broken Ankles, And Drew Tanaka

_Hello, everyone. Chapter 9!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

* * *

"In Which Leo Gets Waylaid By A Daughter Of Aphrodite," Jeremy the son of Hermes read.

"Excuse me?" Leo interrupted.

Percy shrugged. "This story just gets weirder and weirder."

"Stories about me usually do," Leo replied.

 **"Leo passed by the arena on his way to the big house to give Chiron the answer to whether he was staying or not. His siblings hadn't taken it too well. Ever since he had let slip that he had lived in various foster homes since his mom had died, they had immediately assumed that he would be a year round camper."**

"Foster kids typically are," Travis explained. "Some of them have bad experiences with the foster system, but most of them just don't like being bounced around so much and feeling… kind of unwanted, especially when they have a camp full of siblings and friends."

"Some of the undetermined return to the foster system, though. Some of them found good families, and some of them came back to camp within a month of leaving, so it just depends, I guess," Connor added.

"How do you know all of this?" Katie asked.

"Well, keep in mind, as councilors for the Hermes (and undetermined) cabin, we meet almost every camper that comes to camp," Travis pointed out.

 **"The fact that he wasn't going to be, at least not this year, had them upset. Shane had immediately asked him if it was his fault, then Leo had to spend half an hour assuring him that there was nothing wrong with him, or camp. He just needed a break. The whole lot of them didn't let up till Leo had promised Nyssa that if it didn't work out, he'd come right back to camp- no matter what.**

 **So, here he was, on the way to the big house to hand his slip in to Chiron. Well he was, until he saw Luke and Percy leaving the arena, Luke carrying a six pack of cola, and swinging a half celestial bronze, half steal sword. Backbiter.**

 **Leo recalled the time Percy and Annabeth had told the rest of the seven about Luke. They had only done it once, so the memory was a little fuzzy. However he distinctly remembered that Percy said, the day he had found out Luke was the lightning thief, was the last week of the first time he was at camp. Luke had turned up with backbiter, and taken Percy for a walk in the woods."**

"Why do I have a bad feeling about that?" Percy muttered.

Leo nodded. "Probably because you should."

 **Leo looked at the direction the two were heading. The woods it was. The form forgotten, Leo darted after them, hiding behind a dryads' tree when Luke looked around suspiciously. He was about to continue after them when he heard a shout from behind him.**

 **"Where are you going? The woods are forbidden for a reason you know!" Such an irritating voice he had never before heard. At least, not since the time travel thing. If it wasn't the most unpopular sister of Piper ever, Drew Tanaka."**

"Hey!" Draw snapped.

Leo shrugged. "In the future, you treated my best friend like dirt. I'd be shocked if I didn't hold a grudge against you.'

 **"Drew..." Leo turned on his heel to face the girl. She didn't actually look much like she did in the future. Sure she was still really pretty, and annoyingly whiny, but she had a light in her eyes, as oppose to the cold look of the Drew from the future. Like, she was happier now, like something had happened to her that caused the coldness and cruelty present in her future character. Leo decided he preferred this Drew.**

 **Right now she was looking at him rather shocked. "You're that son of Hephaestus who saved the Aphrodite cabin! But how do you know my name?"**

 **Leo backtracked. "I... Talked to Silena, and she mentioned you, so I figured you'd rather I called you by your name than, Oi you." Leo wondered what the twinkle in her eye meant.**

 **"You remembered? Aww that's so sweet." Drew flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled at him, "You're Leo yeah? You saved me from that bench. You're a hero."**

 **"Yeah..." Drew giggled at that, and Leo barely swallowed a hysterical laugh. Drew was hitting on him. Big step down from the girl who had to have Jason, or else. It seemed that though she may be nicer that the future, she still had to flirt with someone. He reckoned that she only picked him because of the bench thing though."**

"Well, you're not bad looking," Draw admitted, "and you're funny, but you are very scrawny and in desperate need of a shower."

"Shower?" Leo asked. "I just took one before we got transported here."

"Then how are you covered in oil?" Percy asked. "You weren't in the forges."

Leo frowned and examined his hands, which were covered in oil and grease smudges. He hadn't even been working with oil, grease, or machines since his last shower!

"I don't know," Leo answered. "That happened in the future, too. Even if I'm not working with oil, I'm always covered in it, no matter how many showers I take."

"It's a child of Hephaestus thing," Beckendorf replied, displaying his own oil smudged hands.

 **"He wasn't a hero really, not compared to Percy at least. Speaking of Percy... Leo glanced behind him into the woods, he couldn't see Percy or Luke anymore, and Luke could have stabbed Percy by now! "I'm really sorry Drew, but I have to go, I'm worried about Percy in there. I can handle myself ok."**

 **"Percy went into the woods?" Drew looked a little surprised at that. "There's monster's in there!"**

 **Suddenly a brainwave struck Leo, "That's why I need you to get Chiron, please, Percy might be injured or something."**

 **"What will you give me if I do that?"**

 **Of course, there had to be a price. But Percy and Luke were getting further and further away. "What do you want Drew?"**

 **"This." Drew walked up to him, and kissed him full on the lips; Leo stopped breathing in shock, and felt his pulse freeze for a second. She was freaking kissing him! Kissing him! Yeah, sure it was Drew, and he was certain she only did it for a bet or something, but she was good looking... So he kissed back."**

By the end of that paragraph, everyone was in hysterics over the fact that Drew kissed Leo.

"Wait," Leo suddenly said after everyone had calmed down. "If Piper is like my honorary sister in the future, than wouldn't kissing Drew be like kissing my honorary sister or step sister or something? And that isn't even mentioning the fact that her mom and my dad are married!"

"Don't over think it. It causes headaches," Travis told him.

"Too late," Leo murmured as he clutched his aching skull, throbbing from all the confusing thoughts running through his brain about his complex family.

 **"When Leo broke the kiss, which he felt had gone on long enough; he raised an eyebrow at Drew. At least he tried to raise an eyebrow, but as he was never very good at it, he ended up raising both, and looking like a demented owl."**

"There is nothing wrong with owls!" Athena sputtered.

"I didn't say there was. I was just stating a fact," Leo defended himself.

 **"Drew giggled again, and left, calling over her shoulder that she would go and get Chiron, and he better go after Percy.**

 **As she left though, he heard her mutter, "I win, I kissed Aphrodite cabin's savior first."**

 **Leo laughed at that, though he thought he should be a little disgruntled. He probably would have been the first time around, but this time, he just found it amusing. He put it out of his mind as he rushed along the trail after Luke and Percy.**

 **He crashed through the forest, ignoring the few monsters he saw, who in turn ignored him. If he wasn't scared of them, he figured they'd think he didn't need to be and was a good fighter, so they'd leave him alone. It seemed a sound theory, and it also seemed to be working.**

 **By the time he reached Zeus's fist, he was worried. What if he arrived too late? Or even too early, and Luke decided it was easier to just lope Percy's head off."**

Everyone looked a little green at that sentence.

 **"He slowed before he reached, and slunk through the trees. Luke was still talking, which meant that Percy still had to be a little bit alive. Luke wasn't really the sort to talk to a dead body. At least, Leo didn't think he was.**

 **"...Goodbye Percy."**

 **Then Leo had to immediately jump behind a tree, so as not to be seen when Luke left. As soon as Luke had gone, Leo rushed out to where Percy was stumbling around, and grabbed his arm, mindful of the swelling on his hand, where he had been bitten, or stung by something, and by the swelling already multiplying, that something was very poisonous."**

Percy paled, Grover not too far behind, and Annabeth swallowed so harshly, Leo could hear it from two seats over.

 **"Come on Percy, let's go, get you to Chiron. He will be able to heal you. Come on!"**

 **"Leo?" Percy stumbled and almost fell. Leo slung an arm around Percy waist, and dragged him along the path, and back to camp. He was about half way back, when Percy collapsed, and Leo took his entire weight. Not expecting it, Leo tripped, and from the pain in his ankle, it was either broken or badly sprained. He got back up though, and kept running, with Percy almost hanging off him now. His ankle screamed at him every time it hit the uneven floor, and he couldn't help the gasps of pain that escaped."**

"I'm surprised you weren't screaming. Running with a broken ankle is not fun," Connor told him. "Or two…"

"You only ran for a few yards before I had to carry you, though," Travis pointed out. "And even then, I barely made it that distance before I just threw you in a car that someone had left running and drove off."

"What were we running from anyway?" Connor asked. "Was it the dragon?"

"No. That was before we ran away from home. Was it the dracnea?"

"No. That was the time we hid in garbage cans, and they somehow didn't pick up on our scent."

Travis snapped his fingers. "The hellhounds!"

"Right!" Connor remembered.

"Maybe I should've been keeping a sharper eye on them," Hermes mumbled to Apollo.

"What could you have done about it?" Apollo asked.

"Don't tell me you've never interfered in your kids' lives!" Hermes replied, darting his eyes to look at Zeus to make sure he wasn't listening.

 **"By the time Leo saw the light at the edge of the forest, and Drew standing there, next to Chiron, (who was swishing his tail, and looking rather alarmed), he was almost passed out himself from the pain. He had fallen over, about half a dozen more times, and he was fairly certain that, if it wasn't before, his ankle was well and truly broken.**

 **He reached the light at last, and ignoring Drew's shocked gasp, laid Percy on the floor in front of Chiron, and stayed conscious long enough to say, "Luke. Is thief. Poisoned Percy. His hand. Really bad. Don't know what."**

 **Then the pain in his ankle grew to an unbearable crescendo, and his eyes rolled back into his head, as he collapsed into someone's arms..."**

"Eeee!"

Leo jumped and turned to a very pale Beckendorf.

"Was that you?" he asked.

"You can't prove anything," Beckendorf muttered, but he didn't deny it.

 **"The next think he knew, he was again in the infirmary. He groaned at the lingering pain in his ankle, and turned his head to look to his side. Percy was still unconscious, and Annabeth was standing next to him, looking worried. Leo sat up with another groan, and caught her attention. She turned to look at him, a fierce expression on her face, and demanded.**

 **"Leo, what happened? I asked Chiron, but he wouldn't tell me. What happened to Percy? Who poisoned him? Why is Luke gone?"**

 **Leo sighed, and spoke. "It's a long story, and I don't know all of it. Percy's the one who heard what Luke said. I only arrived to hear Luke saying goodbye to Percy, and then leave. I helped Percy back to camp, and brought him to Chiron. You'll have to wait till Percy wakes up for the rest of the story."**

 **Annabeth looked upset at that, and Leo couldn't blame her. Hearing that the person who had looked after you for years, and who you might have a crush on, had poisoned your best friend. It must hurt. He turned away from Annabeth's hurt face"**

Nobody called Annabeth out on that. Even the Ares kids weren't that cruel.

 **"and saw the door open. Beckendorf entered.**

 **"Leo, you're awake!"**

 **"No, I'm an evil automaton version of your little brother. Leo Valdez in hidden in bunker 9, and you will never find him, Mwahahah." Beckendorf looked alarmed at that. "It's a joke Becky!"**

 **"Becky?"**

 **"Well, you're acting like a mother hen, so..."**

 **Beckendorf looked actually angry at that. "My little brother just got injured. You could've died Leo! I think I have right to be worried over that."**

 **"It was just a broken ankle. I wouldn't have died of it." Leo was feeling a little guilty over worrying his big brother, but he still thought Beckendorf was overreacting."**

Beckendorf wrapped his arms around Leo, who squawked in surprise.

"Don't ever say that again! I'd be overreacting if it was a paper cut! If you're in the Infirmary, I have a right to worry."

"I agree, Beckendorf," Leo choked out. "But you're going to put me _in_ the Infirmary if you don't stop crushing me."

Beckendorf blushed as he released his little brother, who had began turning blue from the tight grip of Beckendorf's embrace.

 **"If you had fainted in the woods, you could have died. You have no idea how many monsters are in there. And they're not all as friendly as Shelob!"**

 **Leo frowned, and then sent an apologetic look at his brother, which relaxed him somewhat. "I... Sorry, Beckendorf, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm not used to people who actually care."**

The mood in the room quickly grew sad.

 _Man, that was a huge downer,_ Leo thought. No wonder my siblings are constantly worried about me when I say things like that.

 **"Beckendorf frowned but nodded, and came to sit at the end of Leo's bed. Leo sent him a grin and continued, "...But, it proves that I'm not safe anywhere, which means I'll be in no more danger outside the camp as in it. I can handle the mortal world. So why don't you want me to go?"**

 **"We're just worried..."**

 **"You don't need to be!"**

 **"It's a sibling's privilege!"**

 **Leo looked at Beckendorf, who was trying not to grin. He then looked at Annabeth's flabbergasted face, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. So this year at camp was done, but he'd be back next year, and in the meantime, he knew how to manipulate the mist. He had unlimited (sort of) money, thanks to Chaos. This year was looking up..."**

"And you jinxed it!" Jeremy exclaimed before handing the book to Katie, who cracked it open.

"In Which Leo Meets A Couple of Old Friends…"

* * *

 _What'd you think? Please leave a review, and I'm sorry for the wait._


	10. Orphanages, Bullies, And Old Friends

_Hello, again._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

* * *

"In Which Leo Meets A Couple of Old Friends…" Katie read.

 **"Leo was really regretting leaving camp."**

"Oh, no," Percy mumbled.

 **"Not that he would have liked being thrashed with Clarisse's spear, but it would probably have been better than this. He absentmindedly poked another bruise, wincing at the pain."**

"What?" Nyssa roared, making Leo yelp and fall out of his chair in shock. "Who hurt you? I'll shove my sword up their-"

"Nyssa," Leo hissed, covering Shane's ears. "Sensitive ears at two o'clock!"

"I think that's three o'clock," Travis muttered.

"Or is it twelve?" Connor mumbled. "Huh… oh, well," he said, leaning back in his chair and munching on some popcorn from the red and white container in his lap.

"Where did you get that?" Travis asked.

"A magician never reveals his secrets… now, eat popcorn with me and enjoy the show!" Connor exclaimed, and his brother grabbed a handful of popcorn and leaned back in his own chair.

"Oh, right," Nyssa murmured. "Who hurt you? I'll make them regret it with nonspecific techniques!" she bellowed.

"It hasn't happened yet!" Leo squeaked.

"Oh, right… You better come to me when and if it does!"

"I will! Just… can you help me up and maybe stop yelling?"

Nyssa offered Leo a hand, and Katie resumed reading.

 **"He had forgotten in the years of fighting monsters, how much of a monster a human could be. He had been in the mortal world a week, and already he was thinking of packing his bags and hiking back to camp.**

 **After he had left camp, and walked to New York, which took a while, he had just loitered outside a police station for a while. Eventually some officer had come out, and must have recognized him as Leo Valdez, the boy who was always running away from foster care, because he immediately dragged Leo back in to the station, and proceeded to call the nearest orphanage. So, here he was, in another orphanage. It wasn't so bad really, the food was good, and the care workers were surprisingly nice.**

 **Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other kids. On his first day, forgetting that he was twelve and not sixteen, he had unwisely told one of the fourteen year olds to pick on someone else, when he found him yelling at one of the six year olds. All that did was paint a massive sign over his head. A sign that read-pick on this kid. He lost count of the number of times one of the older kids had seen him in the hall, with no-one nearby, and punched him. Today was by far the worst though. Yesterday the care workers had been called to a conference, and only one had stayed. This meant that it was the perfect time for all the older kids to gang up on him."**

Several people, including Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Hephaestus and his children, and even Chiron, and several others, gritted their teeth.

 **"They had caught him unaware as he left the games room, which was really a massive room with a piano, loads of board games and a pool table, and had backed him up against a wall. He had nowhere to run, so he just took it. After fighting a war, it didn't hurt that much, so he just kept quiet. He was regretting that now. If he had screamed, then the care worker would have found out, and the punches and stuff would probably have stopped. But then the older kids would have probably gone back to yelling and torturing the little ones, and Leo was less ok with that. At least this way he was helping the younger kids a little.**

 **But today the bruises, though completely hidden by his cloths, (the bullies weren't stupid enough to hit him where the bruises could be seen), were purple, and it looked like he had just gone eight rounds with Frank in elephant form. In other words, he looked beat up. And to top it all, today was visitor day. Once a week, the orphanage would be open for people to visit. It was a scheme to encourage people to adopt, but it didn't seem to work as the care workers had hoped. Meaning, no-one had been adopted yet.**

 **But there was always the next week, and Leo really didn't feel like getting up today. He lay back down on his bed, and closed his eyes, wondering how Percy was doing, back with his mom. Annabeth had gone back to her dad too, and Leo had a feeling that wouldn't go down very well. Annabeth was still very stubborn, and if she had gotten that from her dad... She'd probably be back at camp soon. Leo grabbed the blanket, and curled around it, ignoring the call for breakfast. He could easily get some food later, the cooks liked him anyway.**

 **Before he had realized, he had dozed off again, and was rudely woken by a knock on his bedroom door. That was another good thing about this orphanage. Everyone, unless they specified they would like to share with a specific person, had their own room. It was a plus, because he could always retreat into his, and he refused to call it hiding. The knock came again, and Leo let out a groan.**

 **The door opened, and Liz, one of the care workers, poked her head around it, gazing at the lump on the bed with a small smile. "Leo, you have to get up."**

 **"Don't wanna..." Leo was kind-of surprised at how babyish he was acting. Usually he would have sent a grin in Liz's direction and joked about how he needed his beauty sleep, or something like that. But, he just wanted to sleep today. Maybe it was the bruises he had from yesterday: or maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to meet any visitors that might turn up. It felt a bit like the kids in care were being lined up to be inspected. He didn't like being treated as an object."**

"I don't blame you," an Apollo kid murmured to Leo.

 **"It seemed like Liz had picked up on his mood, and she had entered the room, her smile dropping. "Is there something wrong joker?"**

 **All of the care workers had taken to calling him that, since the lot of them had watched batman on his second day, and Leo had constantly pointed out the flaws in the plans, and how he could have made the bat mobile so much better, etc. Eventually Kali, one of the smallest children, had turned around, and told Leo, "Be quiet, you're picking on batman so much you sound like the Joker."**

 **After that moment of hilarity, everyone in the place that didn't hate him had taken to calling him the Joker. He didn't particularly mind, there were worse things they could have called him. Leo poked his head out of the sheets to assess whether he had been too much out of character. From the growing frown on Liz's face, he had. Time for some damage control. He grinned at her blearily. "But then again, if by getting up, I have to look at your ugly mug, well then who can blame me for not getting out of bed."**

 **Liz's smile returned, and the tension in her frame leaked away. "You can't say much, as least I don't go around all day with hair like that!"**

 **"There is nothing whatsoever wrong with my hair, it's part of the reason girls love me!"**

 **"In your dreams perhaps."**

 **Leo gasped, and pretended to be offended. Eventually he sat up and turned his head away from her with a huff, sticking his nose in the air. She giggled, and left the room, calling over her shoulder that he better get up and changed, because the first visitors would be arriving in half an hour.**

 **Within half an hour, Leo was dressed and in the games room, his tool belt firmly strapped around his middle. The supervisor of the orphanage had tried to take it from him, but after him proving it was empty, thanks to the mist, he was allowed to keep it. He had just been to the kitchen, and begged a muffin off Karen, who was the head cook, when the doorbell rang. The games room, which was right by the front door, was perfect for overhearing conversations, a fact which Leo now took advantage of.**

 **He was kinda surprised that he was the only one with this idea, but he reckoned all the other kids were waiting in the dining room, or planning another ambush on Leo. That seemed to be the favorite pastime for half of the older kids. Leo leant against the wall, and closed his eyes, trying to hear the conversation. Liz had opened the door, and was talking to a man and a woman. Probably two people who couldn't have kids and were looking for a nice four years old to adopt.**

 **Leo was almost ready to stop listening when he heard a younger voice. That was unusual. Not once in his time in care had a prospective parent brought along a kid. He focused again. "Mommy and daddy said they want another kid, because I'm not enough trouble anymore. They don't want me causing more trouble though, cus I asked that." Leo heard Liz's giggle at that, and couldn't keep from smiling himself.**

"My mom wanted to adopt once. She said I wasn't enough trouble anymore, but then, I blew up my school," Jake said.

His siblings turned to him.

"How did you do that?" Nyssa asked.

"Uh... nonspecific excuse!" Jake cried, and Katie laughed before continuing to read.

 **"The doctor said they couldn't though. Cus it might, en... endager..."**

 **"Endanger."**

 **"That's what I said! It might en... hurt mommy. So, they said they might adopt. An I want a big brother! So I don't mind sharing my parents. They'll still be mine though, but I'll share them!"**

 **Leo couldn't help laugh at that, he didn't mind sharing his parents, just so long as no-one tried to take them away. He wouldn't mind having a little brother like that. That voice sounded familiar though, where had he heard that little boy before? Leo was sure he had, not too long ago. After the time travel thing, but before camp...**

 **He heard Liz asked the little boy a question, and the answer shocked him so much he fell of the chair he had been swinging on. It was the kid from the arch, Benny!"**

"Wow. Talk about what goes around comes around," Jake said. "Leo saves them from monsters, and if they adopt him, they save him from the bullies!"

 **"Leo rubbed his head absentmindedly, as he winced at the pain from his bruises, where they hit the floor. He didn't notice the door open behind him, until a small head poked around it, and a young voice piped, "Leo?"**

"And here we go," Travis muttered. "I don't know whether to be happy for you because they might adopt you or feel bad because you'll have to explain everything to them."

"Settle for both," Connor offered. "I'll read next!"

Katie tossed him the book.

* * *

 _I know that there hasn't been much commentary from the Futures (I almost forgot about them), but they will start to come out of their shells a little bit in chapter 15, and it'll build from there._

 _Thanks for reading! Goodbye, everyone!_


	11. Old Friends And New Families

_Keep in mind, I only edit what I write. If it was written by NBrokenShacklesN, it is in bold and is not edited by me, so if you find mistakes in the bolded area, ignore it. If you find a mistake in the writing that is not bolded, that is my own fault._

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything in bold belongs to NBrokenShacklesN._

* * *

 **"After Benny had burst in, there was a moment of shocked silence, in which Leo's only thought was, oh schist! Then the moment was broken by the three adults following Benny. When they came into the room, both of Benny's parents stopped and stared at Leo, who cringed. He had hoped that they wouldn't recognize him. No such luck.**

 **Liz hadn't seen the looks though, instead focusing on the collapsed chair. "Leo... How many times have we told you not to do that? You've only been here a week, and already have taken great delight in destroying the furniture!" Leo was about to retort when he noticed the glint in her eye...**

 **"How can I help myself when the furniture takes great delight in destroying me?" Leo leant over and rubbed his back. "Ever heard of a cushion?"**

Everyone couldn't help but chuckle at that.

 **"Leo ignored the giggle that Benny let out at that, grinning innocently at Liz, who threw her hands up in mock desperation. Just as Benny's mom opened her mouth, to ask Leo a question he probably wouldn't want to answer, there was an almighty crash from the dining room and a babble of voices started yelling.**

 **Liz jumped, and then made for the door. She stopped as she reached it, and shot a glance back at the family and Leo. "I'm terribly sorry about this, but would you mind if I left you here for a bit, I'm sure Leo won't mind looking after you, and I need to go sort out the rabble." Here she directed a longsuffering glance to the door across the hall.**

 **Leo frowned at that, no, he did not want to be left alone with these three; the questions would be very hard for him to answer. He took more offence at Liz's statement though. He gave a mock gasp, and held his hand to his chest. "Liz, you have wounded me... How dare you suggest that I am not part of the rabble? Why how very dare you! I will have you know, I am the rabblist rabbler that ever rabbled!"**

"What does that even mean?" Percy asked in between hysterical laughter.

Leo shrugged. "I have no idea what it means or how I said it. That is a tongue twister. Rab…list… rabbler… rabbled," Leo said, slowly, seemingly tasting the words on his tongue "Try to say that ten times fast."

Leo hadn't meant that literally, but apparently, Travis and Connor took it that way and tried to do that.

After a few moments of watching the brothers stumble over the words, Carlos, an undetermined kid, interrupted them by grabbing the book from Connor and beginning to read before an irritated looking Katie actually tied their tongues into knots.

 **"Liz grinned sardonically, "Of course you are Valdez." Then she shut the door, and Leo was left with a family that was staring at him.**

 **Leo sent a look to the closed door, if he bolted now he might make it... maybe... Benny's father seemed to catch his train of thought, and moved in front of the door. Maybe not then, the windows?**

 **He was prevented from bolting however, when Benny came, and hugged his legs. Leo was so shocked, he sat down, thankful that there was a seat behind him, or that would have been really awkward."**

"No, it would've been awkward if the chair broke," Jake said.

"Has that ever happened to you?" Leo asked.

"Maybe…"

 **"Benny seemed to take that as permission to clamber onto his lap. Leo sent a pleading look at Benny's mom, but she only grinned at him. Leo mentally groaned. Great, she had decided that as it kept Leo from attempting a dive out the window, Benny could stay where he was.**

 **Benny looked up at Leo, and asked, "Will you be my big brother?"**

 **Leo gave a shocked laugh. There were many reasons that he shouldn't be adopted by these guys. Mainly that, unlike most of his other foster families, these people, as far as he could judge, were good people. He didn't want them hurt when he inevitably ran away. Then they would be a target for monsters, or could get hurt if any monsters came to attack Leo. No, he defiantly couldn't be adopted by these guys. How on earth would he explain that without hurting Benny's feelings?**

 **While he was thinking, he must have been wearing a shocked face, because Benny's mom (and he really needed to stop calling her that) had started talking. "Benny, you can't just say that."**

 **"Why not, you said I could get a big brother, and I want Leo!"**

 **"Because it's not fair to Leo. He might not want to be your big brother."**

 **Benny turned big eyes back to Leo, and bit his lip, his eyes shimmering. "You don't want to be my big brother?"**

 **Leo mentally groaned again. How come small children could always pull off that look? It was really irritating!"**

Shane smirked before performing that same look.

"What do you want?" Leo asked with a sigh. "As long as it's not money because I do not have any."

Chortles rounded the room.

 **"Leo swore he heard a small giggle from the door, and glanced up, to see the tail of a Greek dress spin out of sight. Who?"**

"Of course a monster has to ruin the good mood!" Apollo exclaimed.

 **"Leo turned back to Benny, who was now sniffling. He moved Benny off his lap and onto the floor, glancing at his parents, who weren't saying anything. Benny dad sent him thumbs up, and mouthed "going great." When Benny was on the floor, Leo knelt in front of him, realizing that this brought him to Benny's height. He hadn't realized how small he actually was at twelve."**

"You are tiny," Nyssa told him.

"Well, get used to it. I don't grow much in the next few years. I'm barely 5'5 when I'm sixteen," Leo said, making his sister laugh.

 **"It's not that I don't like you Benny. But you remember the monster." Leo stopped until Benny nodded, and then continued "there are more monsters Benny, and they're mad at me, I don't want you or your family getting hurt because I'm living with you." He gave Benny a smile, a true smile, which he didn't do very often, and Benny smiled slowly back.**

 **Leo stood up again, and guided Benny to the corner of the room, where there was a box of Lego. Benny was about four, he should be able to play with Lego without eating it, right?"**

"Uh… unfortunately that's not always true," Percy murmured.

"You ate a Lego when you were four, didn't you?" Annabeth sighed.

"I was actually ten…"

Laughter boomed at that.

"Hey. It was not my finest moment, okay? But I learned my lesson! Now, that I think about, I never had surgery to remove that… does that mean it's still in there?" Percy asked in alarm as he poked his stomach.

"No, son," Poseidon rushed to say. "Did you take a shower afterward?"

"Yeah…"

"Then the water would've healed you, so don't panic," Poseidon chuckled.

"Okay, thank goodness. That would've been really hard to explain to a doctor," Percy sighed.

 **"He sat Benny down, and pulled out the Lego ship he had hidden. It was a mini version of the Argo two, with movable pieces. Benny's eyes got big as he looked at it, and he immediately pulled it toward him, and started moving around the blond Lego-man at the prow. Leo grinned as Benny stuck Jason headfirst through one of the doors on the deck, and then stood up, and headed back to where Benny's parents were now seated.**

 **Leo took a seat on the couch opposite theirs, on the other side of the pool table, and looked to them expectantly, realizing that they probably had 101 questions for him.**

 **Benny's mom was the first to speak, and she sat forward to do so, "Leo, I'm sure you realize we have a load of questions, but before we start, we had better introduce ourselves. My name's Jo, and this is Harvey."**

 **Leo nodded at them, "Ok, bring on the interrogation."**

 **Harvey chuckled at that, and looked at Jo, who seemed to be expecting a little more protest than Leo had given. Leo wasn't bothered, he knew he didn't have a chance of escaped anyway, might as well accept the interrogation. Harvey then spoke. "Leo, you said at the arch that both you and your father were a part of a terrorist fighting group. Could you elaborate on that?"**

 **Leo sighed, grateful that the mist had done its job. "I can't say too much, because, it's meant to be a secret. Long story short, most of these robotic things... I just call them monsters, I find it easier. Most of the monsters just stay out of the way the majority of the time. The government's not that bother about them the majority of the time, since their very good at hiding, and trying to track them all down would cause a national upheaval..."**

 **"Why fix what isn't broken."**

 **"Pretty much. Every now and again, one will attack somewhere random, and one of my lot is brought in. We get rid of the problem. That's what happened at the arch."**

 **Jo frowned at that, "Oh, your friend, at the arch, the one who fell, did he... Is he..."**

 **"He's fine. He grabbed onto a ledge on the way down. I'm still not sure how he did that, but he managed it, and he's fine."**

 **Harvey spoke again. "So, can you elaborate on your lot, or is that secret?"**

 **"You two are taking this a whole lot better that I thought you would."**

 **The two smiled, and Jo elaborated. "We saw that robotic... We saw the monster, and you saved our lives. We would likely have been dead otherwise. Once it almost kills you, it's hard not to believe in it."**

 **"Fair enough. So, my lot... All I can say is it's a department, originally consisting of twelve monster hunters, and the rest of us are their kids, which was why it's a family business." Leo grinned at that, family business indeed, if you were a demigod, you had no choice but to fight monsters. Unless you chose to die instead.**

 **"If it's a family business, then why are you in an orphanage?"**

 **"It's dangerous, you saw Percy fall at the arch, my mom's dead, and dad's... Well, he was on a mission, and he hasn't come back. He's been declared MIA, so I was sent here. The government kindly provided me with a back story, so here I am."**

 **Leo looked away from the two sympathetic grown-ups, mom was dead, and dad might as well be MIA, the amount of time he spent with his kids. He was over it anyway. With the future taken into account it had been 11 years since his moms death anyway, at least for him. So why could he feel tears in his eyes?"**

Everyone tried to keep the sympathy off of their faces for Leo's sake.

 **"He saw Benny playing with the mini Argo two, he had found the piper modal, and was trying to make the two swordfight. Leo couldn't help but smile at the noises he was making. "Crash, I win, you girl!" "No, blond, I WILL WIN!" Such dramatic insults, girl and blond. Leo was sure the real Jason and Piper would be in stitches at the fight. Well, his Jason and Piper. His smile grew sadder as he looked away, the tears springing back into his eyes. His Jason and Piper were gone. For good. He would likely become friends with them again, but they might never again have the same friendship as they had before.**

 **Piper would never cry on his shoulder after Jason's fall. Jason would never come to him and obsess over how he was going to have to try to convince the Romans not to fight with Greece. Those things wouldn't happen, and the loss hadn't struck him till now. That friendship- those moments, they would never happen, and only Leo would remember it being any other way.**

 **Leo felt a hand on his shoulder, and someone wiping away the wetness on his cheeks. Why was he crying? No-one had died; he had no reason to cry, but if felt like Jason and piper had just died again, and this time his friendship, his memories had died too. Here... They had never really happened.**

 **He was aware of arms wrapping around him, and a soft voice murmuring something. "...Alright Leo... It's ok..."**

 **Leo grinned, and scrubbed of the tears, blinking again to get rid of them. He sent a grateful look at Jo, who withdrew, rubbing her own eyes, and Harvey removed the hand that had been on his shoulder. "So, Leo, you've told us that you are part of a hidden army, what's the reason you don't want us to adopt you?**

 **Leo's indignation came back in a rush. "I don't want you hurt. If a monster attacks me, you could get hurt. I don't want to hurt your family."**

 **"Leo, we've seen you fight, you could protect us, and the way we see it, you need a family. So why not us?"**

 **Leo was warring with himself. He so wanted to be a part of this family, to fit somewhere other than camp, to look after a little brother without Beckendorf or Nyssa hovering over his shoulder, but he didn't want to hurt them, and what about camp... He had fought against Gaia and her giants; he could cope with whatever monster was idiot enough to attack him... So against his better judgement, Leo found himself grinning at Harvey and Jo.**

 **"I can be a right menace you know.""**

"YAY!" Shane squealed, making several people jump before they broke out into giggles. Shane blushed. "Um, I mean… YAY!" he yelled in a lower voice.

* * *

 _Not much dialogue in this chapter, but some hilarious moments (my favorite was the part with the story about Percy eating a Lego)._

 _I'm sorry this chapter took so long, and I will try not to take so long next time. I will be focusing on my other stories A Parent's Love For Their Child and All That Matters, along with some prompts I'm doing, for the next few weeks, but I will try to update this as much as I can (I actually have some chapters done, so once I can edit them, I'll post them)._

 _Thanks for reading!_


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